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THE 

PHILOSOPHY 
OF MARX 



By 

HARRY WATON 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE MARX INSTITUTE 

NEW YORK 



THE .PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 



The Philosophy of Marx 



By 

HARRY WATON 



1921 



Published by 

The Marx Institute 
New York 










:" 






JAN 1V^ 



gc/. -04$ 73\ 



FOREWORD 

npHE perversions and misconceptions of the 
-*- misinterpreters of Marx — the Kautskys, the 
Plechanoffs and the Hillquits — gave birth only to 
the cowardice of the Second International. Bol- 
shevism, the Socialism of Marx and Engels, is 
leading the proletariat of the world to victory, 
as it has done in Russia. 

The outbreak of the War in 1914 shipwrecked 
the social-chauvinists and traitors of the Second 
International in the sea of empty phrases which 
they had created, and they floundered back to their 
own countries to hide behind the skirts of Pat- 
riotism. Only those who stood on the bedrock of 
Marxism weathered the storm of the imperialist 
war. Kerensky, one of these compromisers, lost 

-^ the faith of the workers after the crash in Russia 

03 in 1917. Then the party of the Bolsheviki, built 
on the firm foundation of the Marxian theory, 

J~ ruled with an iron discipline and with Lenin and 
Trotzky at its head, seized the opportunity. For 

"y three years they fought world capitalism and came 

5 



6 FOREWORD 

out victorious. They have proved to the proletariat 
of the world, that waited breathlessly for the out- 
come, the soundness of Marx' principles, "the only 
revolutionary theory," according to Lenin, and the 
hypocrisy of the blatant, opportunistic charlatans, 
who had posed as leaders of the proletariat. 

The working class of the world has taken this 
lesson to heart. It has severed all connections 
with these opportunists and has allied itself with 
the Communist International and the Russian pro- 
letariat. At the same time these renegades have 
shown their true colors and are aligning themselves, 
in the Class Struggle all over the world, on the 
side of reaction. In Germany they have become 
the bitterest enemies of the revolutionary prole- 
tariat. In America there has been a sharp demar- 
cation between the revolutionary working class and 
the Hillquits and Spargos; in France the majority 
of the Socialists have allied themselves with the 
Communist International, thrusting aside Longuet 
and Thomas; and, in the same way in every country, 
the proletariat has put its faith in uncompromising 
Marxism. 

The Philosophy of Marx in an abbreviated 
form was published several years ago in the 
Radical Review. In the present publication 



FOREWORD 7 

Comrade Waton's original, unmodified and clear 
discernment is merely enlightened by the exper- 
ience of the Russian revolution. This completed 
>vx>rk, however, is more than a paraphrase of Marx; 
it combines the soul and intellect of Comrade Waton 
to complete an understandable truth pointing the 
way to proletarian emancipation. Comrade Waton 
has in this book rendered an inestimable service 
to the Socialist movement by crystallizing the dif- 
ferences between revolutionary Socialism and the 
opportunism of the Second International. 

Marx Institute. 



Philosophy cannot realize itself without the rising of the pro- 
letariat; the proletariat cannot rise without the realization of 
philosophy. 

Men make their own history, but they do not make it out of 
the whole cloth; they do not make it under conditions chosen by 
themselves, but under such as are immediately found at hand, 
given and transmitted. 

Karl Marx. 



INTRODUCTION 

/ 1%/TARX said: Philosophers have only interpreted 
-*-"-*• the world differently, but the point is to change 
it. This is significant. Up till now philosophers 
busied themselves about the interpretation of the 
world. It is high time that the interpreters of the 
world begin to concern themselves about changing 
and improving it. To Marx the interpretation of 
the world was but a means to an aim — to understand 
the world so that we may change and improve it 
to suit our purposes. According to Marx, men 
make their own history, though not of the whole 
cloth, and they must make their own history, if 
their existence is to be satisfactory. And only 
from this point of view does the socialist move- 
ment become necessary and rational, since the state 
of socialism can come only through our own efforts, 

9 



10 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

Of itself it will not come. At no time, therefore, 
was a correct understanding of the philosophy of 
Marx so essential to the progress of the socialist 
movement and the emancipation of the working 
class as it is now, when the socialist movement 
suffered heavily in the great world tragedy, and 
when the socialists themselves lost their bearings 
in the overwhelming storm and stress. 

But, the questions will arise: — What has phil- 
osophy to do with the practical solution of the prob- 
lems that confront the working class; and, if phil- 
osophy has much to do with these problems, why 
must it necessarily be the philosophy of Marx? 

The first question cannot be answered here, for 
the very philosophy of Marx is the answer to this 
question. One therefore must first know the phil- 
osophy to understand and appreciate the answer 
to the question. Therefore, in this case, as in most 
cases, the reader will have to take on trust the as- 
surance that the answer will be found in the phil- 
osophy that he is now to pursue. 

The second question, however, can be answered 
at the outset, and therefore should be answered at 
once. 

In his "Creative Evolution" Bergson shows that 
the tendency of matter is towards mechanism and 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 11 

constraint, while the tendency of life is towards 
self -consciousness and freedom. Between matter 
and life, therefore, there is this antagonism — while 
matter pulls down towards constraint, life lifts up 
towards freedom. And, while in all other living 
beings matter still holds life in constraint, in man 
only did life succeed to unburden itself of the con- 
straint of matter and attain to some degree of free- 
dom. This freedom life achieved through the in- 
strumentality of human society. Society, like a 
reservoir, stores up and preserves the excellent and 
great achievements of the human race, by the ac- 
cumulation of which society constantly raises the 
level of human progress ever higher, and to which 
level the individual must raise himself at the out- 
set, if he is to live in society. And by this necessity 
and initial stimulation the average man is saved 
from the state of slumber and petrification, like in 
the case of insects and plants, and the superior 
man is enabled and encouraged to rise higher still. 
Unlike all other living beings that, on coming 
into existence, are almost equal to the full-grown 
of their species, man, on coming into existence, 
finds himself amidst a society of his own kind that 
collectively has reached a much higher level of 
progress than he brings with himself in his own 



12 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

being, and higher than any which, unaided by so- 
ciety, he could ever attain. That the individual 
may even exist in society he must spend several 
years of his early life to acquaint himself to some 
extent with the accumulated knowledge and ex- 
perience of society. During this period of educa- 
tion the individual must train himself to follow the 
methods of thought and action crystalized by man- 
kind from experience. This task is so difficult and 
requires so many years of hard training and exact- 
ing discipline that, by the time the individual 
reaches the level of social progress in any direc- 
tion and attains to that very state in which he can 
exercise his initiative rationally and advantage- 
ously to himself and others, he has become so 
thoroughly accustomed and adjusted to the methods 
of thought and action of mankind and has found 
them so convenient and effective, that then and 
thereafter, of his own accord, he follows those 
methods as being the shortest and most certain 
means to further achievement and success. There 
is a fundamental reason for this. 

Mankind lived in this world a very long time 
and during this time passed through an experience 
infinite in extent and variety — an experience which 
an individual could not go through in an eternity. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 13 

In most cases men, in their striving to attain to 
some aim, fell short of their aim and failed in 
their endeavors; and this failure was but the result 
of inadequate experience and imperfect knowledge 
of themselves and of the world. But when, aided 
by the accumulated experience of the human race 
and the combination of favorable circumstances, 
a gifted individual succeeded to achieve some work 
of excellence or greatness, mankind, strongly de- 
siring to succeed in this world, most readily fol- 
lowed his methods and most carefully treasured up 
his concrete achievements as models for itself and 
future generations. And, quite naturally, with 
the appreciation of the achievements also came the 
appreciation of those that achieved. 

Emerson tells us: "It is natural to believe in 
great men. Nature seems to exist for the excellent: 
they make our earth wholesome. The search after 
the great men is the dream of youth, and the most 
serious occupation of manhood." Now, the mas- 
ter minds of all ages were but the happy mediums 
through which mankind achieved excellence and 
greatness. And, as motion is in the direction of 
least resistance, mankind most naturally followed 
those methods of thought and courses of conduct 



14 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

that were discovered and opened up for it by the 
piaster minds. 

What Shakespeare achieved for English litera- 
ture and Spencer for the" doctrine of evolution, 
Marx achieved for social science. And just as no 
one can hope to acquire a fundamental knowledge 
of English literature without a study of the works 
of Shakespeare or a fundamental knowledge of the 
doctrine of evolution without a study of the works 
of Spencer, so no one can hope to acquire a funda- 
mental knowledge of social science without a study 
of the philosophy of Marx. It is for this reason 
that we must endeavor to understand his philosophy. 

But, we shall be told by Socialists as well as by 
non-socialists that, though Marx in his day was a 
great man and has contributed great knowledge 
to the human race, since his day mankind has pro- 
gressed so wonderfully that we might better use our 
limited time and capacity to an understanding of 
the latest achievements in sociology, and leave it 
to the antiquarian to satisfy his curiosity by a study 
of the philosophy of Marx. 

Plausible as this argument seems, it has no 
merits. One might as well say that because since 
the days of Shakespeare the English-speaking race 
made great progress in language and literature, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 15 

therefore, there is no further need of studying the 
works of Shakespeare. But we know that the Eng- 
lish-speaking race will stand in need of a funda- 
mental study of the works of Shakespeare as long 
as the English language will be spoken, and even 
after that language will become antiquated and 
dead Shakespeare will for a very long time to come 
remain great. 

The same is true of Marx. Though great progress 
has been made in the social sciences, yet until the 
working class achieve its complete emancipation, 
Marx will remain the transcendent genius and lead- 
ing light in the realms of social science. That this 
is not an idle prophecy is attested by the living 
facts. During the 19th century the cultured races 
brought out a large number of men of great emi- 
nence. One needs but mention Darwin, Huxley, 
Spencer, and many others to show how wonderful 
that age was. And amidst all of them was also 
Marx. Nevertheless, while the glory of the names 
of all other great men rapidly wanes, the glory of 
Marx rises ever higher and waxes ever more bril- 
liant and comprehensive. And now, when the 
human race is passing through a great trial, the 
doctrines of Marx are the only ones that are of 
value to the struggling masses, and are the only 



16 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

ones that show the way to emancipation and sal- 
vation. 

At the outset, therefore, we must throw aside our 
native vanity that readily lends itself to the belief 
that we of the living generation have a monopoly of 
all truth and wisdom, and that the ancients cannot 
teach us anything. On the contrary, we must learn 
to appreciate the truth and wisdom crystallized by 
the past generation at the same time that we value 
the truths and wisdom which we in our own gene- 
ration are crystallyzing. Goethe said: 

Das Wahre war schon langst gef widen, 
Hat edle Geisterschaft verbunden; 
Das alte Wahre fass es an! 

The same truth was even better expressed by 
Jesus: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground 
and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth 
forth much fruit." If the individual wants to rise 
to the level of social progress in any direction, and 
to attain to that state in which he can exercise his 
initiative rationally and in a manner most advan- 
tageous to himself and others, and to contribute to 
human knowledge and achievement something of 
real value and lasting benefit, he must, in the first 
instance, like the corn of wheat, bury himself in 
the fertile ground of the accumulated achievements 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 17 

of mankind, there to remain for a long time, dead 
to the outside world as well as to his own ambitions, 
and only then will he be able to rise to the level of 
social progress, and then only will he be able to 
rise still higher and bring forth much fruit. 

Now, if we are sincere about the Socialist move- 
ment and if we earnestly want to acquire a funda- 
mental and correct understanding of society and 
the tendency of its evolution so as to be able to 
further the cause of Socialism, we must endeavor 
to master the philosophy of Marx. The future 
achievements of the working class and the salva- 
tion of the human race are organically bound up 
with this philosophy. It is for these reasons that 
we now betake ourselves to an earnest study of the 
philosophy of Marx. 



CHAPTER L 

7TTHE philosophy of Marx is neither a cosmology 
-*- nor an ontology. It does not attempt to ex- 
plain the universe, nor does it undertake to dis- 
cover the nature of things or the ultimate aim of 
Creation. The philosophy of Marx is a philosophy 
of human society. It traces the course of human 
society and points out the determining factors of 
that course. It is true that the history of human 
society is involved in the history of the world and 
that a knowledge of the latter is essential to a 
correct understanding of the former. Neverthe- 
less, when once a general idea of the world's his- 
tory is acquired, the course of human history may 
be traced and adequately described, without a de- 
tailed and collateral account of the former. And 
this was what Marx did. Having first grasped the 
general course of the world's history, he betook 
himself to an investigation of the facts and the 
conditions of human life and discovered the course 
of human history and the factors that determine 
that course. The results of his achievements he 
embodied in his monumental works, chief of which 

19 



20 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

is "Capital." Marx's philosophy is known as the 
materialist interpretation of history. 

Among the reasons usually urged against social- 
ism, one is that it is materialistic. The material- 
istic view of life seems to be opposed to God and 
contrary to the doctrines of religion and morality. 
The opponents of socialism therefore charge social- 
ism with the aim to dethrone God, repudiate re- 
ligion, undermine morality, break up the family 
and to destroy the very foundation of society; and 
for these reasons they repudiate socialism. 

Now, the upholders of the present state of society 
would be opposed to socialism even if it were per- 
fectly free from the taint of materialism, and 
therefore their objection against socialism must 
not be taken seriously. Nevertheless, since so much 
,is made of this objection, it must be disposed of in 
an adequate manner, so that it may not stand any 
more in the way of a clear understanding of the 
philosophy of Socialism. This, then, will be our 
first step. 

Darwin familiarized us with the expression "the 
struggle for existence." The reality of life would 
have been described more adequately by the ex- 
pression the struggle for the means of existence; 
for, as we shall presently see, living beings struggle, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 21 

not for their existence, but for the means necessary 
for their existence. 

The reality of life manifests itself as a coopera- 
tion between life and the means of life. All living 
beings endeavor to persist in their being and 
to multiply their kind. But that they may live and 
multiply their kind, living beings must have the 
means of life. These means are material objects: 
land, water, air, sunshine, food, shelter, and, in the 
case of the human race, clothing. Without these 
material means of life, living beings cannot exist. 

Now, though the cooperation between life and 
the means of life is absolutely essential to the 
existence and to the multiplication of living beings, 
these two factors are not commensurate with each 
other, for, while life is infinite in its capacity and 
tendency to increase and multiply, the means of 
life are limited. Science abounds in facts and 
illustrations, showing the infinite power and ten- 
dency which living beings possess to increase and 
multiply their kind. For instance, Professor 
Huxley tells us that, if a protozoa — a mere micro- 
scopic creature — be given the opportunity to in- 
crease and multiply according to its capacity and 
tendency and a like opportunity be given to its 
progeny, in the course of but six months the aggre- 



22 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

gate mass of their bodies would be equal in size the 
mass of the earth — so infinitely great are their 
power and tendency to increase and multiply. 
Again, Professor Owen tells us that fishes usually 
throw out about a million ova at a time, which, if 
favored by conditions, would in a short time ma- 
ture into a million fishes. And the same is true, in 
varying degrees, of all the living beings, from the 
lowest to the highest and from the smallest to the 
largest. One can well speculate that, if all living 
beings now to be found in the waters, on the sur- 
face of the earth and in the atmosphere, were 
given the opportunity to increase and multiply 
according to their capacity and tendency and a like 
opportunity be given to their offspring, in the 
course of perhaps a thousand years they would 
fill up the universe with their bodies. 

On the other hand, the material means for life 
are limited. The earth and all it contains were 
given once and for all times to come. Even if the 
earth continue to harbor on its surface living be- 
ings for countless millions of years to come, it will 
not during that time perceptibly increase in mass 
or in surface area. And even if life should suc- 
ceed to make an economic and most efficient use 
of the means of life available on the earth, these 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 23 

means of life cannot keep pace with the inherent 
capacity and tendency of life to increase and mul- 
tiply itself. This, then, gives us an idea of the 
disparity and incommensurability between the 
factors that manifest themselves in the reality of 
life. Nothing in nature is so abundant, and there- 
fore so cheap, as life, and nothing is so dear, be- 
cause it is limited, as the means for life; for, while 
life can easily increase itself infinitely, it cannot 
easily increase the means for life. Life, there- 
fore, is more than meat. 

Now, since life, which is infinite in capacity and 
tendency to increase and multiply, is organically 
and indissolubly bound up with the means of life 
that are limited, it follows that life tends to over- 
flow and transcend the means of life, and living 
beings, therefore, must struggle with one anothei 
for the possession and the use of the limited means 
of life. Hence, the history of life on the earth was 
but the history of an unceasing struggle of living 
beings with one another for the limited means of 
life. And that which was true of life generally 
will continue to be true for life generally to the 
end of days. And, that which was true of life gen- 
erally was equally true of human life. The his- 
tory of mankind was but the history of its unceas- 



24 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

ing struggle with one another for the possession and 
the use of the limited means of life. And as their 
past history, so also, their future history will be but 
a continuation of a fierce struggle, growing ever 
Xnore fierce and brutal, for the limited means of 
life, unless mankind should wake up to the realiza- 
tion of the truth, that, if it is to emancipate itself 
from the necessity and the conditions, that, like the 
beasts of prey, compelled it to struggle for the 
limited means of life, it must take its destiny into 
its own hands, and, guided by the light of reason 
and truth, endeavor to transcend the material con- 
ditions by making these conditions serve rather 
than master the human race. But of this in the 
sequel. 

Again, since the material means of life are 
limited and determined both in their quantity and 
nature, while life is unlimited and undetermined, 
it follows that life must adjust itself to the quantity 
and the nature of the means of life. When the 
material means of life were yet in their elemental 
nature, life could but manifest itself in an ele- 
mental nature and form. Therefore, in the begin- 
ning, life appeared in the nature and forms of 
protozoas, protophytas, and the like. But, in the 
course of time through the interaction between life 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 25 

and the material means of life, an advancement 
resulted, and life, too, assumed an advanced nature 
and form. And so, in the course of millions of 
years life passed to higher and ever higher forms 
of existence. 

Hence, Spencer defines life as a continuous ad- 
justment of inner relations to outer relations. Living 
beings, if they are to exist, must adjust themselves 
to the outer conditions of existence, which condi- 
tions are of a material nature. A failure of such 
adjustment is inevitably punished with sickness and 
death. This law is eternal and universal; it admits 
of no exception. It operated from the beginning of 
time, and it will operate to the end of time. No 
living being ever violated this law with impunity. 
This is true of the smallest as well as of the largest 
beings; it is true of the lowest as well as of the 
highest forms of life; it is true of the individual 
as well as of the group, the species, the race and 
of all orders of life. 

Again, if the conditions of existence were of a 
fixed and permanent nature, given to life once and 
for all times, the task for life then, would have been 
a simple and easy one. All that life would then 
have to do would be to adjust itself to the fixed and 
permanent conditions of existence. And by this 



26 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

time that adjustment would have been so perfect 
and complete that between life and the conditions 
of existence there would have been harmony and 
equilibrium. But the conditions of existence are 
not of a fixed and permanent nature; they are not 
given to life once and for all times. On the con- 
trary, the conditions of existence perpetually 
change and perpetually undergo an evolution of 
their own. Change is the eternal and universal 
order of existence. Therefore, since the conditions 
of existence perpetually change, living beings, if 
,they are to continue to exist, must perpetually ad- 
just themselves to the perpetually changing condi- 
tions of existence. And this they can accomplish 
by perpetually re-adjusting themselves to the ever- 
changing conditions of existence. Hence the sig- 
nificance of Spencer's definition of life. Life is a 
continuous adjustment of inner relations to outer 
relations. Living beings must continuously adjust 
themselves, that is, they smust continuously re- 
adjust themselves to the ever-changing conditions 
of existence. 

Again, this adjustment of life to the conditions 
of existence is not a mere mechanical reaction; life 
is not merely a passive reflex of the changing con- 
ditions of existence. A more intimate knowledge 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 2? 

of the relation between life and the conditions of 
existence brings to light the further fact, that, not 
only does life adjust itself to the ever-changing 
conditions of existence, but also, that it actively 
anticipates the coming changes in the conditions of 
existence and beforehand prepares itself to meet 
those changes. A few illustrations will make this 
clear. 

Insects, in anticipation of the coming changes 
in themselves and in the conditions of existence, 
deposit their eggs at such places in which, during 
the coming spring, their offspring may be hatched 
out and find their immediate means of subsistence. 
Some insects, like the bees and the ants, in antici- 
pation of the coming winter, store up food for 
themselves during the summer. 

Birds, in anticipation of the coming summer, 
migrate from the south to the north, and in antici- 
pation of the coming winter, return from the north 
to the south. In anticipation of the coming genera- 
tion, the birds mate themselves and build nests. 
And so it is in varying degrees with all other living 
beings. The characteristic that essentially distin- 
guishes a being of a higher degree of evolution is 
the greater capacity it possesses to anticipate the 
future changes in the conditions of existence and 



28 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

beforehand to adjust itself to these future changes. 
And the degree of intelligence in living beings is 
but the degree of this capacity to anticipate the 
future changes. 

But even this does not yet give us an adequate 
idea of the nature of life. The anticipation by 
living beings of the future changes in the conditions 
of existence could not bring out an evolution of life 
from lower to higher forms; that anticipation could 
bring out only a more accurate adjustment to the 
changed conditions. That life should continually 
advance from one form to a higher f orm, and per- 
petually, to strive to rise ever higher still, there 
must be an irresistible urge in life itself to tran- 
scend the forms already attained. The endeavor 
to surmount the existing conditions and to overcome 
opposition must be prompted by the very nature of 
life itself. This springs from the very nature of life, 
because life is infinite in nature and capacity. It 
therefore cannot satisfy itself with any attained 
state, for any such state is but limited in nature and 
extent. Hence, as soon as life attains to any form, 
it immediately seeks to transcend that form. And, 
while in the case of living beings generally this 
urge in life is more or less suppressed by the over- 
whelming constraint of the material conditions, in 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 29 

the case of man life succeeded to emancipate itself 
to a considerable extent from this constraint. 
Hence, in man life finds the most adequate instru- 
ment for its infinite nature. 

But, since man is radicaly different from all 
other living beings, he must behave in a manner 
radically different from the behavior of other living 
beings. Man must, not only actively anticipate 
the future changes, but also, he must exert him- 
self to shape those changes. He must not only antici- 
pate the future, but also he must create the future. 
Otherwise, man could make no greater progress 
than other living beings made. The man would 
be like the dumb, driven cattle, without any power 
over the conditions of existence. But we know 
that in proportion as man rises higher and higher 
in evolution he acquires an ever greater power over 
the conditions of existence, to shape them so as to 
suit his conveniences and purposes in a more ade- 
quate and satisfactory manner. Man, therefore, 
must go a step further than other living beings. 
He must not only anticipate the future, but also 
he must beforehand work out a plan for his future, 
and then seek to realize it in time and space. 

And for the performance of this higher task 
nature has endowed man with reason — a faculty 



30 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

possessed by no other living beings. Reason is 
the faculty that raises man above the conditions 
of existence, and shows him what he should and 
could accomplish to better the conditions of exist- 
ence. By means of reason man created science — 
an instrument for a systematic and comprehensive 
prevision; it is an instrument by which man can, 
by a more comprehensive survey of the past and 
present conditions of existence, more deeply pene- 
trate into the future and more clearly perceive the 
possibilities which he can realize. Man, therefore, 
is preeminently a being that looks before as well 
as after. 

We see, then, that though man has power to 
shape the conditions of existence, that power, how- 
ever, is also determined in its function by the very 
conditions of existence. Life is limited and de- 
termined by the quantity and the nature of the 
means for life. And the evolution of life is con- 
ditioned upon the evolution of the means of life. 
From this it follows that a fundamental knowledge 
and correct understanding of the history of life is 
possible only through a fundamental knowledge and 
correct understanding of the evolution of the means 
of life. This is true of human history, as it is true 
of the history of life generally. Hence, the history 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 31 

of mankind, its struggles, and its endeavors, can 
be understood only when interpreted in terms of 
the history of the material means of life. And this 
is called, the materialist interpretation of history. 
Engels expresses this well in his essay — "Socialism, 
Utopian and Scientific": 

"The materialist conception of history starts 
from the proposition that the production of the 
means to support human life, and, next to pro- 
duction, the exchange of things produced, is the 
basis of all social structures; that in every society 
that has appeared in history, the manner in which 
wealth is produced and distributed and society 
divided into classes or orders is dependent upon 
what is produced, how it is produced, and how the 
products are exchanged. From this point of view 
the final causes of all social changes and political 
revolutions are to be sought, not in man's brains, 
not in man's better insight into eternal truth and 
justice, but in changes in the modes of production 
and exchange. They are to be sought, not in phil- 
osophy, but in the economics of each particular 
epoch. The growing perception that existing social 
institutions are unreasonable and unjust, that 
reason has become unreason, and right wrong, is 
only proof that in the modes of production and 



32 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

exchange changes have silently taken place, with 
which the social order, adapted to earlier economic 
conditions, is no longer in keeping. From this it 
also follows that the means of getting rid of the 
incongruities that have been brought to light, must 
also be present, in a more or less developed form, 
within the changed modes of production themselves. 
These means are not to be invented by deduction 
from fundamental principles, but are to be dis- 
covered in the stubborn facts of the existing system 
of production." 

To have an adequate and complete view of the 
whole, we must contemplate life from a still more 
comprehensive aspect. Living beings — plants as 
well as animals — are distinguished from the non- 
living world by the "term, organic. This term 
comes from the Greek, organon, meaning an in- 
strument — which means that life uses the living 
beings as an instrument for its own purposes. The 
evolution of the living beings, therefore, is not 
their work, but the work of life itself. Life tran- 
scends, not only the means of life, but also the 
living beings themselves. When, for instance, we 
contemplate our body, so admirable in its structure 
and the adjustment of the parts to one another and 
to the whole, and so wonderful in its physical, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 33 

mental and moral powers; and when we ask our- 
selves the question: Who built up this wonderful 
body, we are confronted by a great difficulty. We 
know for certain that we ourselves did not build 
up our body. Science, however, tries to show us 
that the work of building up our body is done by 
the cells composing the body. But a little reflec- 
tion on the matter will at once show the utter im- 
possibility of this. Science never asked itself the 
question: — How can cells that are infinitely 
smaller than man and radically different from him 
build up a being that infinitely transcends them 
in size, capacity and nature? 

The truth of the matter is that cells never per- 
formed any such miracle. A deeper insight into 
the reality of life will bring to light the fact, that 
the cells, our bodies, and the bodies of races of 
living beings, all are but the means, the instruments, 
through which life itself accomplishes its purposes. 
Life, therefore, transcends the living beings as it 
transcends the means of life. And just as in the 
first case we saw that life can progress only through 
the material means of life, and in accordance with 
the nature and degree of development of those 
means; so, also, we shall see in this case that life 
can progress only through the means of living be- 



34 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

ings and in accordance with the nature and the 
degree of development of those beings. 

From this point of view the individual and the 
race must be regarded as but the means through 
which life functions and attains its purposes. As 
the tendency and capacity of life is perpetually to 
increase and expand indefinitely, a thing which life 
can accomplish only in proportion as it perfects 
the means through which it functions, life is there- 
fore constantly searching out mediums through 
which it may rise higher and perform its work in 
a more efficient manner. These mediums may be 
individuals, nations, and even the whole human 
race. 

From this higher point of view we can under- 
stand, even more fundamentally than we could be- 
fore, how life must be interpreted in the terms of 
the material means of life; for, as far as life is 
concerned, the individuals, the nations and the 
whole human race, are but material means for 
life, just as we saw before, the land, water, air, 
food, clothing and shelter were. It is this universal 
fact that points to the correct interpretation of life. 

Now, since life is organically and indissolubly 
bound up with the means of life, and since, further- 
more, life must adjust itself to the means of life, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 35 

it follows that the material conditions of existence 
are the basis and foundation for the conduct, the 
feelings and the thoughts of mankind; as the ma- 
terial conditions of existence are so men must be- 
have, so they must feel, and so they must think. 
And, consequently, with a change in the material 
conditions of existence, the conduct, the feelings, 
and the thoughts of men will change correspond- 
ingly. 

This, however, does not deny the possibility for 
mankind to act in accordance with principles and 
in pursuance of ideals. On the contrary, we shall 
presently see that men are, not only capable of 
acting in a most unselfish and ideal manner, but 
are constantly striving to act in that manner. And 
the socialists, more than their opponents, believe in 
this possibility and constantly strive to act in an 
unselfish and ideal manner. This is shown, on the 
one hand, by the fact that they strive after an 
ideal state of social existence; and on the other 
hand, it is shown by the fact that the socialists are 
constantly denying themselves and, in true Chris- 
tian fashion, are taking up daily the cross for the 
sake of their ideal. But, socialists believe that, 
since life is organically and indissolubly bound up 
with the material means of life, and can rise only 



36 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

by and through the means of life, all endeavors 
to attain an ideal state must be based upon an ideal 
arrangement and management of the means of life. 
This is the fundamental reason why the socialists 
direct their efforts primarily towards changing and 
improving the material conditions of existence. 
And this is also the reason why the socialists, with 
Jesus, believe that man cannot by merely taking 
thought add a cubit to his intellectual and moral 
stature. To rise mentally and morally, man must 
rise through and by means of the material means 
of life. 

We see, then, that socialism loses nothing from 
the fact that it is materialistic. On the contrary, 
it gains in every respect, since only by being ma- 
terialistic does it proceed in a rational and certain 
manner. The charge urged against the socialists, 
that they are materialists, turns out to be a com- 
pliment. For, just as it was not below the dignity 
of God to busy himself with the creation of a 
material world, and just as it is not derogatory of 
his Supreme Nature to continue to busy himself 
with material existence, so, it is neither impious 
nor irreligious for the socialists to follow the 
example of God. On the contrary, the socialists 
by their meekness, by their willingness to busy 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 37 

themselves about the material world which God 
gave mankind, and by their endeavor to change 
and improve it, show themselves infinitely more 
religious, and therefore more worthy of inheriting 
the world, than the so-called religious, who con- 
temptuously scorn to accept this earth of ours as 
a gift commensurate with their pretended merits. 
What can be more blasphemous and impious in 
puny mortals than to look with displeasure upon 
the earth, refuse to improve it, and expecting in 
compensation for their so-called religiousness noth- 
ing less than three hundred and ten worlds with 
eternal life and continuous joy? Can these 
impudent, blasphemous and conceited fools charge 
the socialists with being irreligious? Does it lie 
in their mouths to charge the socialists with 
the desire to dethrone God, repudiate religion, 
undermine morality, break up the family, and to 
destroy the very foundation of society? But, more 
of this anon. 

Man is not only capable of acting in an ideal 
manner; he is also anxious to act in such manner. 
But, though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. 
To act in an ideal manner, man must find himself 
in an ideal state of existence. To transcend unideal 
conditions, is a task that requires superhuman 



38 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

'strength; and few mortals are endowed with such 
strength. Nevertheless, before we can go a step 
further, we must clear away a confusion that is 
involved in the subject. We must distinguish 
between the moral nature of man, that is, between 
his capacity and desire to attain an ideal, and 
the object of an ideal. This will reveal to us the 
very significant fact, that, though the striving after 
an ideal is not materialistic, the object of an ideal 
is always a material reality. This will require 
consideration. 



CHAPTER II. 

%V7~HAT is an ideal? An ideal is an object or 
* * a state of existence which we conceive to be 
most excellent and which we desire to enjoy or 
attain. The object of an ideal is always some 
material thing or a material state of existence. 
All ideals are ideals about material things and all 
idealists are idealists about such things. As this 
view seems to be contrary to the general view of 
ideals, it is necessary to sustain this view by some 
illustrations. 

Moses was an idealist. He loved the Jews 
most unselfishly, and he most ardently wished to 
see them happy. Yet, what was his ideal for the 
sake of which he sacrificed so much? — a land 
flowing with milk and honey, where the Jews 
would enjoy an abundance of corn and wine, have 
plenty of children, and attain to an old age — all 
of which are material objects for a material ex- 
istence. 

Again, Jesus was a sublime idealist. He loved 
mankind most unselfishly. Yet, what was his ideal 

39 



40 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

for the sake of which he bore so much suffering? — 
a kingdom of heaven on earth — a state of material 
existence on this material earth in which mankind 
would enjoy freely the gifts of nature and in which 
the relations of mankind towards one another would 
be governed, not by greed and brute force, but by 
love and kindness. 

Likewise, when we consider the idealists of all 
times, we shall find that their ideals were ideals 
about things of a material nature. Even in cases 
in which the ideal is a human being or human 
beings, he or they are regarded as material objects: 
it is not for the sake of their disembodied reality, 
but when that reality is bound up with a material 
body. And so, likewise, the socialists are idealists. 
They cheerfully deny themselves wellbeing and 
frequently submit to suffering and sometimes 
accept even martyrdom and death for the sake of 
their ideal. And yet, their ideal is of a material 
nature — a happy material existence for mankind. 
And this is true of all cases. 

This springs from the very nature of life itself. 
The aim of life is to attain to a happy existence. 
That aim manifested itself in human beings in a 
striving after a state of wellbeing and happiness. 
This is the only aim that life can have. And those 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 41 

that believe otherwise, namely, that the aim of 
human endeavors should be the attainment of some 
other state, such as a state of liberty, perfection, or 
blessedness, will readily change their belief in 
favor of the happiness-idea, when it is pointed out 
to them, that no matter what be the desirable state 
of existence which, in their opinion, mankind 
should strive to attain, in essence it is but a state 
of happiness. For, if the state of liberty, of per- 
fection, of blessedness, brought mankind misery, 
or even if it was a state of indifference to them, 
mankind would not strive after such a state. It 
follows, therefore, that the aim of all human en- 
deavors is and should be the attainment of a state 
of wellbeing and happiness. 

Now, whatever may be the ultimate nature, origin 
and destiny of life, in its earthly manifestations it 
is organically and indissolubly bound up with ma- 
terial objects. Life unites itself with a material 
body, and endeavors to realize itself and its aim 
through that body. And, while life is anterior to 
and independent of all material things and material 
conditions of existence, the body, however, is pos- 
terior to and dependent upon the material means 
of life and material conditions of existence. And 
since life seeks to realize itself through a material 



42 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

body and amidst material conditions of existence, 
it must aim after the highest possible material 
wellbeing and happiness. And therefore, the aims 
and objects of all ideals of life must be some ma- 
terial object or some material state of existence. 
All ideals, therefore, are ideals about sound bodies, 
comfortable homes, good and abundant things to 
eat and to drink, pleasant material surroundings, 
beautiful sceneries and landscapes, and the like. 
And all idealists always strove after such things. 

But, one may ask, what is the difference between 
an ideaist and selfish person? The difference 
between them is not in the things which they desire, 
but in the purposes for which they desire. While 
the selfish person desires all these things for him- 
self, the idealist desires them for himself and 
others. This we shall readily see. 

Suppose one should concentrate all his efforts 
upon this aim — to acquire the means for a comfort- 
able existence, say a comfortable home, good food, 
nice clothes, and other things to enjoy all for him- 
self. He would then rightly be considered a selfish 
person. 

Now, suppose that instead of concentrating his 
efforts to acquire all these desirable material things 
for himself, he should strive to acquire these things 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 43 

also for the use of his family and relatives. In 
this case, though he is still striving after the same 
things, there is in his striving an element of ideal- 
ism; for he now strives after these things that they 
may be enjoyed, not only by himself, but also by 
his family and relatives. 

Now, suppose that he concentrates all his efforts, 
that not only he and his family and relatives should 
enjoy all these material things, but also that his 
whole nation should enjoy them. In this case his 
idealism will rise very high. 

Finally, suppose that he devote his life to the 
aim, that the whole human race should enjoy these 
material things in great abundance. Suppose that 
his ideal should be a state of existence in which 
every human being should be well fed, well clothed, 
well housed, well brought up and educated in the 
sciences, the arts, and the philosophies, would not 
his idealism in this case be sublime? Clearly so; 
and yet, in the last case as well as in the first case, 
he strives after the same things — material objects 
for a material existence. The difference is only 
this; in the first case he strives after these things 
for himself only, in the last case he strives after 
them for all mankind. 

This, then, ought to make it clear that human 



44 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

history, like the history of all other living beings, 
was but the history of their efforts to acquire the 
material things essential to life. Therefore, hu- 
man history can be understood and rationally in- 
terpreted only when read in the light of the history 
of human efforts to acquire the material means of 
life. And this is the reason why the materialist 
interpretation of history is the only mode of inter- 
pretation that is true, correct, and in accordance 
with the reality of life. And in this manner Marx 
interpreted the past history of the human race, and 
in accordance with this interpretation he formulated 
the future development and history of the-hiiman 
race. And to understand this interpretation is the 
task before us. 

All the works of Marx are but an interpretation 
of human history and it is from a study of all his 
works that we can crystallize a comprehensive un- 
derstanding of his method of interpretation. And 
this, indeed, we shall have to do. Nevertheless, 
wte shall start out with Marx's own formulation of 
the materialist interpretation of history and then 
we shall consider it in the light of the doctrines he 
developed in his works. And this is how Marx 
formulated it: 

1. In social production which men carry on, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 45 

they enter into definite relations that are indis- 
pensable and independent of their will; these re- 
lations of production correspond to a definite stage 
of development of their material powers of pro- 
duction. The sum total of these relations of pro- 
duction constitutes the economic structure of so- 
ciety — the real foundation, on which rise legal and 
political superstructures and to which correspond 
definite forms of social consciousness. The mode 
of production in material life determines the gen- 
eral character of the social, political and spiritual 
processes of life. It is not the consciousness of 
men that determines their existence. But, on the 
contrary, their social existence determines their 
consciousness. 

2. At a certain stage of their development, 
the material forces of production in society come 
in conflict with the existing relations of production, 
or — what is but a legal expression for the same 
thing- — with the property relations within which 
they had been at work before. From forms of 
development of the forces of production these re- 
lations turn into their fetters. Then comes the 
period of social revolution. With the change of 
the economic foundation the entire immense super- 
structure is more or less rapidly transformed. 



46 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

3. In considering such transformations the dis- 
tinction should be made between the material trans- 
formation of the economic conditions of production 
which can be determined with the precision of 
natural science, and the legal, political, religious, 
aesthetic or philosophic — in short, ideological 
forms in which men become conscious of this con- 
flict and fight it out. Just as our opinion of an in- 
dividual is not based on what he thinks of himself, 
so can we not judge of such a period of transfor- 
mation by its own consciousness; on the contrary, 
this consciousness must rather be explained from 
the contradictions of material life, from the ex- 
isting conflict between social forces of production 
and the relations of production. 

4. No social order ever disappears before all 
the productive forces, for which there is room in it, 
have been developed; and new higher relations of 
production never appear before the material condi- 
tions of their existence have matured in the womb 
of old society. Therefore, mankind always takes 
up only such problems as it can solve; since, look- 
ing at the matter more closely, we will always find 
that the problem itself arises only when the ma- 
terial conditions necessary for its solution already 
exist or are at least in the process of formation. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 47 

5. In broad outline we can distinguish the 
Asiatic, the ancient, the feudal, and the modern 
bourgeois methods of production as so many epochs 
in the progress of the economic formation of so- 
ciety. The bourgeois relations of production are 
the last antagonistic form of the social process of 
production — antagonistic, not in the sense of in- 
dividual antagonism, but of one arising from con- 
ditions surrounding the life of the individuals in 
society; at the same time the productive forces 
developing in the womb of bourgeois society create 
the material conditions for the solution of that 
antagonism. This social formation constitutes, 
therefore, the closing chapter of the prehistoric 
stage of human society. 

When this highly abstract statement is analyzed, 
it resolves itself into the following component ele- 
ments concerning: 1. The influence which the ma- 
terial conditions have upon man in determining 
his development and consciousness; 2. The role 
which man plays in modifying the conditions of 
existence to suit his purposes; 3. The class-struggle 
that arises between the owners of the material 
means of existence and those that are deprived of 
them; 4. The course of social evolution that leads 
to socialism; and, 5. The means and the methods 



48 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

to be pursued by the proletariat to bring about the 
change of society from the state of capitalism to 
the state of socialism. We shall consider these 
elements in the order here stated. 

At the outset a fundamental problem confronts 
us. We are about to examine the relation that 
exists between man and nature, with a view of dis- 
covering to what extent the material conditions of 
existence determine the development and conscious- 
ness of man, and, in turn, to what extent, if at all, 
man modifies the conditions of existence and thus 
makes his own history. We might have proceeded 
in a dogmatic manner, taking for granted certain 
metaphysical assumptions, without going into an 
examination of those assumptions. And, though 
this is the case with most writers on social phe- 
nomena, we cannot proceed in this manner; for 
we are here seeking to unfold the philosophy of 
Marx — a philosophy of society as it appears at 
a certain stage of the evolution of the world, and 
which itself undergoes an evolution through its 
own interaction with the world. We cannot there- 
fore rest upon mere assumptions; we must go to 
the root of the matter and find out what is the fun- 
damental relation between man and nature, so that 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 49 

out of that relation we may trace the causes that 
determine the evolution of man. 

This, again, requires a previous consideration of 
another problem, namely: Do we possess the means 
for the discovery of the truth about the relation 
between man and nature? In other words, we are 
about to examine the philosophy of Marx. Now, 
philosophy is a complete unification of knowledge ; 
and as such, philosophy must start out with the 
theory of knowledge. How do we know things, 
and what are the nature and the extent of our 
knowledge? Does all knowledge spring only from 
experience, or a good deal of it from an apriori 
source? Our first step, therefore, must be to dis- 
cover an adequate theory of knowledge, which shall 
serve us as an instrument in our investigation of 
the fundamental relations between man and nature, 
and in our examination of the subject matter be- 
fore us. This will require an examination of the 
theories of knowledge propounded by leading 
thinkers. I shall begin with Herbert Spencer. 



CHAPTER III. 

A CCORDING to Spencer, all knowledge begins 
■^* with experience, arises out of experience, and 
depends entirely upon experience. Without ex- 
perience there could be no knowledge. By ex- 
perience, however, is to be understood, not only 
the experience of the individual, but also of the 
whole race of living beings. Life is a continuous 
adjustment of inner relations to outer relations, 
through which adjustment resulted the various 
forms of life and the corresponding forms of con- 
sciousness. Those forms of life as well as of 
consciousness were determined by the outer con- 
ditions of existence. Spencer generalized this by 
saying, the outer relations produced the inner re- 
lations. 

This theory of knowledge brought Spencer into 
conflict with Kant. According Kant, though all 
knowledge begins with experience, not all know- 
ledge arises out of experience. There is a basis 
in our consciousness for certain a priori intuitions, 
concepts and ideas, which are anterior to expe- 
rience, and which make experience possible. With- 

51 



52 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

out these a priori intuitions, concepts and ideas, 
experience and, therefore, knowledge would be 
impossible. 

Now, Spencer fully realized that the individual, 
on coming into existence, finds himself in posses- 
sion of certain ultimate intuitions, concepts and 
ideas, which are anterior to experience, and which 
in fact make experience possible. But, Spencer 
maintained that while to the individual these in- 
tuitions, concepts and ideas are a priori, to the race 
of living beings they were a posteriori; the race ac- 
quired them only through experience. These ul- 
timate intuitions, concepts and ideas have in the 
course of evolution been rendered organic by the 
immense accumulation of experience, received 
partly by the individual, but mainly by all an- 
cestral individuals whose nervous system he in- 
herits. Just as the individual, on coming into ex- 
istence, finds himself in possession of a nervous 
system, which to him is a priori, though to the race 
it was a posteriori; so, also, does he find himself 
in possession of certain intuitions, concepts and 
ideas, which, though to him are a priori, were to 
the race but a posteriori. 

Now 4 , Kant was perfectly well aware of this 
view — for it was the view of the whole empiric 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 53 

school; nevertheless, Kant insisted that those ulti- 
mate intuitions, concepts and ideas, such for in- 
stance, as the intuitions of space, time and the 
schemas, and the categories and the transcendental 
ideas, are a priori, not only to the individual, but 
also to the race, and that without these ultimate 
intuitions, concepts and ideas experience would 
be impossible. We shall presently see that Kant 
was right. 

Suppose that in front of a looking glass we pass 
an infinite number of objects, each of which is to 
reflect itself in the looking glass. Will the looking 
glass enrich itself by the reflections of those objects, 
so that it will retain them as experience and know- 
ledge? Surely not — because the .looking glass 
does not meet those reflections with a capacity of 
its own to retain them and to organize them into 
knowledge. Now, if life, like the looking glass, 
were devoid of any capacity to retain the effects 
wrought on it by the outer relations and to organize 
the resulting sensations into knowledge, it could 
no more enrich itself by experience than the look- 
ing glass by the reflections. It is therefore clear 
that life must bring into the world of experience 
a capacity of its own to become conscious of any 
changes wrought in it by the outer relations, retain 



54 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

the resulting sensations, and organize them into 
knowledge. As a matter of fact, we find that life 
is not like the looking glass, merely reflecting in 
a mechanical way the objects of the outer world. 
On the contrary, life is conscious of itself and of 
its experiences. This consciousness is life's own 
nature. It possesses that consciousness before it 
comes into the world of experience, and only by 
virtue of that consciousness can life have expe- 
rience and acquire knowledge. ; Therefore, the 
basis of all knowledge is to be sought, not in ex- 
perience, but in the ultimate nature of conscious- 
ness, that is, in the ultimate nature of life itself. 
Hence, Kant was right when he maintained that, 
though all knowledge begins with experience, not 
all knowledge arises out of experience. The ulti- 
mate intuitions, concepts and ideas spring directly 
from consciousness itself, and are the instruments 
with which life can have experience in the material 
World and acquire a knowledge of that world and 
of the objects in it. This will be brought to light 
by a closer examination of Spencer's own theory 
of knowledge. 

Spencer admits that the ultimate intuitions, con- 
cepts and ideas are a priori to the individual. But, 
he insists, they were a posteriori to the race. The 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 55 

question, then, arises — how did the race acquire 
them? Spencer answers by saying, the race ac- 
quired them gradually. At first the phenomena 
wrought certain changes in the early living beings, 
which changes those beings perceived and remem- 
bered. In the course of evolution those changes 
increased in frequency and definiteness, leaving 
ever more enduring and definite impressions in 
the living beings, until in time those impressions 
became organic, so that they were transmitted 
from parent to offspring. And so in the course of 
countless generations of living beings the accu- 
mulated impressions crystallized themselves into 
definite and permanent states of consciousness, 
which states in the case of higher beings assumed 
the forms of ultimate intuitions, concepts and ideas. 
In this manner Spencer sought to reconcile the 
empiric school with Kant. 

Now, suppose we test this theory of Spencer. 
Suppose we start with the early forms of life. 
According to Spencer we must assume that life 
came into this material world a perfect blank, with- 
out any consciousness whatever, for the granting 
to life any consciousness means to grant, also, to 
consciousness some definite form, which practically 
would mean to grant at once the very position of 



56 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

Kant. Therefore, we must assume that life came 
into the world a perfect blank. Now, if life at 
the beginning was a perfect blank, and had no 
capacity of its own to become conscious of its own 
experience, and therefore had no capacity to re- 
member that experience and organize it into know- 
ledge, how could life begin to accumulate expe- 
rience and acquire knowledge? In that case it 
could no more make a beginning than the looking 
glass; and, not being able to make a beginning, it 
surely could not continue. How, then, could life 
unendowed with a consciousness, having a nature 
of its own and a capacity to become conscious of 
experience and crystallize out of it knowledge, ever 
acquire knowledge? 

Again, according to Spencer's own showing, 
knowledge implies organization, classification, dif- 
ferentiation of experience. If life did not bring 
with itself the capacity to crystallize knowledge 
from experience by means of a consciousness of its 
own, how could life ever acquire the capacity 
to organize, classify and differentiate experience? 
This capacity must be anterior to all experience 
and, indeed, is the capacity that can make ex- 
perience at all possible. Without this capacity, 
experience, if at all, would be but a mass of con- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 57 

fusion and chaos. It must be perfectly clear that 
the impressions and resulting sensations, which 
come in undetermined, discrete and manifold 
streams, cannot of their own accord organize them- 
selves into knowledge. The act of organization must 
be done by somebody and that somebody can be no 
other than life itself. We must, therefore, grant 
to life at the outset the capacity to organize the im- 
pressions and resulting sensations, experienced in 
its converse with material objects, into knowledge; 
for, if we deny to life that capacity, then the ques- 
tion arises — how and by what means did life ac- 
quire that capacity? 

It will not do, as Spencer does, to hide oneself 
behind an Unknowable and say that in some in- 
comprehensible way the Unknowable manifests 
Himself in consciousness and in the material world, 
and that, somehow, life acquires knowledge from 
experience. This is a very poor dodge and entirely 
inadmissible in philosophy. One that undertakes 
to formulate a theory of knowledge nuist go to the 
root oi the matter and tell us in most definite terms 
how knowledge ever comes. And if one is not pre- 
pared to tell us this, he is out of court and cannot 
be heard on the question. 

Clearly, then, we must grant at the outset that 



58 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

life* oil coming into existence in this material world, 
brings with itself a consciousness and a capacity to 
become aware of its experiences within the material 
world, organize the impressions received and the 
resulting sensations into definite states of conscious- 
ness, which in time become organized into knowl- 
edge. And the consciousness, which life brings into 
the world, is not a mere chaos, but is a definite con- 
sciousness; it is a consciousness that the phenome- 
nal world exists and manifests itself in accordance 
with a certain order, proceeding in accordance with 
certain laws and assuming definite and determined 
forms; and that life, in its converse with the mate- 
rial world, will have to adjust itself to that order 
and to those laws and forms. Life, therefore, brings 
with itself a sensibility to perceive objects of ex- 
perience, an understanding to organize and in- 
terpret those objects of experience, and a reason 
to organize the interpretations of the understanding. 
Therfore, the intuitions, the concepts and the ideas 
are a priori; they are a priori, not only to the in- 
dividual, but to the race, because life possessed 
them before it entered into the world of experience, 
and only by virtue of them could life have ex- 
perience and acquire knowledge. 

This view will find its rationale and corrobora- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 59 

tion in the universal manifestations of life. Dur- 
ing the intra-uterine existence of living beings they 
do not need a mouth to eat, eyes to see, ears to 
hear, and the other organs to function in later life. 
Nevertheless, each living being, before it leaves its 
mother's womb, and before it enters into the ma- 
terial world of independent existence, perfects, to 
some degree, and prepares the organs and their 
appropriate capacities, which it will have to use 
in the material world outside of its mother's womb. 
Here, then, we see how life works. Just as each 
living being comes into existence adequately pre- 
pared and equipped with organs and capacities 
that will become necessary to cope with the outer 
material conditions of existence, so, also, life as 
a whole came into existence prepared and ade- 
quately equipped with the organs and the capacities 
that would become necessary to function in the 
material world. When in the fullness of time the 
Creative Energy attained to a state of development 
capable of manifesting itself in the forms of life, 
it already had within itself the necessary capacity 
to function in the material world through the forms 
of living beings; otherwise, it could not make a 
start. That Energy in the form of life already 
possessed a consciousness of itself and the capacity 



60 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

to understand the phenomenal world and compre- 
hend its orders and laws. And by virtue of that 
consciousness and capacity life could perceive that 
the phenomenal world presents itself under forms 
of space and time, and in its functions proceeds 
according to categories, causation, and the like. 
Therefore, consciousness of a definite nature was 
prior to experience, and that made experience pos- 
sible. In time, and through its converse with an 
infinite number and variety of objects of expe- 
rience, life perfected ever more and more its own 
consciousness and increased ever more the mass 
of knowledge that consciousness enabled life to 
accumulate. 

And this is what Kant means. Knowledge be- 
gins with experience, but not all knowledge arises 
out of experience; for the ultimate intuitions, con- 
cepts and ideas, though without experience, are not 
knowledge yet, they are nonetheless anterior to 
experience and make experience possible. That 
Kant's position is incontestable and absolutely in 
accord with the reality of existence will become 
clear when we reflect on the nature of things. All 
manifestations of Nature's powers are a priori in 
their nature. This we shall presently see. 

Light is an activity that follows a nature of its 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 61 

own — a nature that is anterior to and independent 
of the objects that reflect it. Nevertheless, light 
must meet with reflecting objects to manifest itself 
and its nature. In the absence of intercepting and 
reflecting objects, light would never manifest it- 
self. Likewise it is with life. Life is an activity 
that follows laws of its own nature — a nature that 
is anterior to and independent of the material con- 
ditions of existence. Nevertheless, life must meet 
with material conditions of existence to manifest 
itself and its nature. In the absence of the ma- 
terial conditions of existence, life could not mani- 
fest itself. But, just as it would be absurd to say 
that, because without reflecting objects light can- 
not manifest itself, therefore light acquired its 
nature from the reflecting objects; so, also, it is 
absurd to say that, because without the material 
conditions of existence life cannot manifest itself, 
therefore the nature of life is the product of the 
material conditions of existence. And the same is 
true of consciousness. Consciousness is an activity 
that follows a nature of its own — a nature that is 
anterior to and independent of all objects of expe- 
rience. And, as in the forjner cases, so in this 
case it will be absurd to say that, because without 
the objects of experience consciousness cannot man- 



62 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

if est itself, therefore the nature of consciousness is 
the product of the objects of experience. There- 
fore, we must grant to life an a priori nature and 
an a priori consciousness. And only by virtue of 
that a priori consciousness life could acquire expe- 
rience, crystallize knowledge, and attain to a mul- 
tiplicity of forms of life. And that a priori con- 
sciousness was a consciousness of the fact, that the 
phenomenal world presents itself in the forms of 
space and time, proceeds in accordance with the 
categories, causation, and the like, and that in 
accordance with that order life Would have to func- 
tion. Therefore, the ultimate intuitions, concepts 
and ideas are a priori? not only to the individual, 
but to all living beings, to life itself. Kant, 
therefore, was right, and Spencer was wrong, and 
with Spencer falls to the ground the whole empiri- 
cal school of philosophy — a philosophy that viti 
ated the work of the scientists of the modern times 
Again, was Kant entirely right? We shall pres 
ently see that he was only partially right. Assum 
ing now, as we must, that consciousness is a priori 
in its nature and capacity, how can consciousness 
comprehend the objects of experience? Or, in 
other words, how is truth possible? Spencer and 
Kant agree that truth is the accurate correspond- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 63 

ence between the inner and the outer relations. 
According to Spencer, life is impossible unless 
there is an accurate correspondence between the 
inner and the outer relations. This springs from 
his very definition of life. And there can be no 
doubt that without such correspondence life cannot 
proceed, it will then be impossible. The question 
of truth, therefore, is a question most vital to life. 
Life at its peril must find out the truth about the 
material world and the material conditions of exist- 
ence. And as this truth is but the accurate corre- 
spondence between the inner relations and the outer 
relations, the question arises — how and by whom 
is this correspondence established? 

Spencer tells us, this correspondence is estab- 
lished by the outer relations. He expresses this 
view by saying: the harmony between the inner 
relations and the outer relations arises from the 
fact that the outer relations produced the inner 
relations. On the other hand, Kant tells us that 
this accurate corespondence, this harmony between 
the inner relations and the outer relations, arises 
from the fact that the inner relations produced the 
outer relations. Spencer agrees with Kant that 
consciousness comprehends only phenomena, and 
not the noumenon, that is, the ultimate reality. 



64 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

But, while Spencer assumed that consciousness was 
a perfect blank on which the phenomena produced 
impressions corresponding with the phenomena, 
Kant assumed that the phenomena were a perfect 
blank on which consciousness impressed definite 
forms corresponding with consciousness. Their 
respective views may be compared to a seal and 
wax. Spencer regards the phenomena as the seal 
and consciousness as the wax, while Kant regards 
consciousness as the seal and the phenomena as 
the wax. And since, according to Spencer, the 
seal of the phenomena produces the impression on 
the wax of consciousness, and since according to 
Kant, the seal of consciousness produces the im- 
pression on the wax of phenomena, the seal and its 
impression must agree. This agreement constitutes 
the accurate correspondence between the inner rela- 
tions and the outer relations; and this correspond- 
ence constitutes truth. Let us examine this position 
a little more closely. 

At the outset a question presents itself. Both 
Kant and Spencer assure us that from their phi- 
losophy they banished all dogmas and mere 
assumptions and that they proceeded in a most 
thoroughly scientific manner. If so, we have a 
right to examine their assumptions most critically. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 65 

What warrant did Spencer have for the assump- 
tion that, while the phenomena are of a definite 
nature and possess definite characteristics, con- 
sciousness, which is itself also a phenomenon, is a 
perfect blank, and can acquire a definite nature 
and definite characteristics only from the phenom- 
ena? Likewise, what warrant did Kant have for 
the assumption that, while consciousness, which is 
a phenomenon, is of a definite nature and possesses 
definite characteristics, the phenomena are perfect 
blanks and can receive their nature and forms only 
from consciousness? Clearly, these assumptions 
are unwarranted and most absurd on their face. 
And yet both philosophers made their respective 
assumptions without the least justification, and 
without any basis in the reality or in reason. That 
Spencer's assumption was without any warrant we 
already saw, when we found that consciousness was 
not a mere blank and that it had a nature of its 
own, independent of the phenomena and anterior 
to them. Therefore, the correspondence between 
the inner relations and the outer relations could not 
arise, as Spencer thought, from the fact that the 
outer relations produced the inner relations. Such 
fact cannot be shown, it is an impossibility. Like- 
wise, we shall presently see that Kant's assumption 



66 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

was equally without warrant and that, therefore, 
the correspondence between the inner relations and 
the outer relations could not arise, as Kant thought, 
from the fact that the inner relations produced 
the outer relations. This will require a re-exam- 
ination of Kant's theory of knowledge. 

According to Kant, "all phenomena are not 
things by themselves, but only the play of our rep- 
resentations, all of which in the end are determina- 
tions only of the internal sense, and the under- 
standing is not only a power of making rules by a 
comparison of phenomena, but it is itself the law- 
giver of nature, and without the understanding 
nature would nowhere be found, because phenom- 
ena, as such, cannot exist without us, but exist in 
our sensibility only. As possible experience there- 
fore, all phenomena depend in the same way 
a priori on the understanding, and receive their 
formal possibility from it as, when looked upon as 
a mere intuition, they depend upon the sensibility, 
and become possible through it, so far as their form 
is concerned." Kant goes further to tell us that 
"however exaggerated therefore and absurd it may 
sound, that the understanding is itself the source of 
the laws of nature, and of its formal unity, such a 
statement is nevertheless true and in accordance 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 67 

with experience." And the whole "Critique" of 
Kant is but an elaborate presentation of the view, 
that our sensibility and understanding determine 
the forms of phenomena, their laws and their inter- 
actions. Or, to use the same simile, our sensibility 
and understanding are the seal that impresses its 
a priori nature and characteristics upon the un- 
known X, thus determining nature and her laws, 
and thus, also, determining the correspondence be- 
tween the seal and its impression. 

Now, if nature and the phenomena were perfect 
blanks, waiting to receive their impression from 
our consciousness, what basis is there for knowl- 
edge? Knowledge implies a consciousness that 
knows and objects that are known by consciousness. 
The objects of knowledge, therefore, are assumed 
by consciousness itself to be distinct from itself, 
and consciousness is the last court of appeals. 
Therefore, we must reckon with the last decision of 
consciousness. And, not only must we assume the 
objects of knowledge to be distinct from conscious- 
ness, but also that the nature and characteristics of 
the former must be independent of the latter, be- 
cause consciousness itself attests to this fact. How, 
then, can Kant assume that the nature and char- 



68 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

acter of the objects of knowledge are determined 
by consciousness? 

Kant tells us that the apprehension of the mani- 
fold of phenomena is always successive; the rep- 
resentations of parts follow one upon another. In 
other words, the states of consciousness, the impres- 
sions and the sensations, follow one another in suc- 
cession. From our states of consciousness, there- 
fore, we could not distinguish between a static and 
a dynamic object, that is, between a house that 
stands fixed to the ground and a boat that glides 
down the stream, because in both cases the appre- 
hension of the phenomena is always successive. 
Whether one looks upon the boat as it glides down 
the stream, or he examines a house, beginning 
with the right, going to the left, following from 
bottom to the top ; in both cases the impressions up- 
on the observer are successive. From these impres- 
sions the observer cannot tell, whether the house is 
fixed or the boat is gliding down* Kant himself 
speaks of this, but he tries by subtle sophistries to 
elude the question — what, then, enables us to dis- 
tinguish between the fixed house and the moving 
boat? If the phenomena are determined, not by 
their own nature, but by our consciousness, and if 
in our consciousness the impressions of the house, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 69 

like the impressions of the boat, follow in succes- 
sion; how can we distinguish the one from the 
other? Clearly, then, the distinction must reside 
in the phenomena themselves, and it is that distinc- 
tion which consciousness perceives. Or, let us take 
another case. 

Astronomy points out the existence of myriads of 
stars, each of which is distinct from the rest, and 
each of them has characteristics that distinguishes 
it from the rest. Now, if it is consciousness that 
determines the nature and the characteristics of the 
stars, how comes it that consciousness makes out 
myriads of separate and distinct stars? What is 
'there in consciousness that determines the outer 
world to split itself into myriads of stars and an 
infinite number and variety of objects, which would 
require infinite time for consciousness to observe 
and distinguish? And why, again, does the as- 
tronomer direct his gaze towards the heaven to 
study the stars instead of directing his gaze into 
his own consciousness, and, by profound intro- 
spection, to evolve from within the myriads of stars 
and the infinite objects of the outer world ? If 
consciousness determines the phenomena, why does 
not consciousness determine the phenomena all at 
once, so that without labor and instantaneously con- 



70 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

sciousness would evolve the whole universe and 
know it all at once? Why must consciousness go 
through infinite pain and suffering to learn some- 
thing about the external world? 

Again, are the phenomena in any way related to 
the ultimate reality, or, since they are merely the 
representations of consciousness, are they absolute- 
ly distinct from the reality? Kant tries hard to 
prove that the phenomena are absolutely distinct 
from the ultimate reality, but he merely battles 
with his own cobwebs. Kant denies the positive- 
ness of the concept of noumenon as the complement 
of the phenomena. He tells us that "the concept of 
a noumenon is merely limitative, and intended to 
keep the claims of sensibility within the proper 
bounds, therefore of negative use only. A real 
division of objects into phenomena and noumena, 
and of the world into a sensible and intelligible 
world, in a positive sense, is therefore quite inad- 
missible, although concepts may be very well 
divided into sensuous and intellectual." In other 
words, according to Kant, the concepts of pheno- 
mena and noumenon are merely forms of consci- 
ousness, and that the distinction between them is 
merely a distinction between concepts, and not be- 
tween realities outside consciousness. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 71 

If we are to assume with Kant that the pheno- 
mena are not manifestations of an ultimate reality, 
the nature of which determines the phenomena to 
some extent, then we live in a world of pur own 
consciousness, besides which there is nothing else. 
But, when we ask, not Kant the philosopher, but 
our own consciousness, it tells in most certain terms 
that besides itself there is a real world — a world 
which consciousness is trying hard to understand 
and know. And in a case in which consciousness 
and Kant differ we ought to have no doubt in de- 
ciding in favor of consciousness. 

Now, our consciousness perceives an infinite 
number of objects each of which is distinct from 
the others. This infinitude of objects must relate 
to the ultimate reality, and the nature and the char- 
acter of the former must, to some extent, be deter- 
mined by the latter. I say to some extent because 
we shall see later on that the phenomena or the ob- 
jects of knowledge, are but the resultant of the co- 
operation between consciousness and the ultimate 
reality. Therefore, the phenomena reflect both con- 
sciousness and the ultimate reality. The ultimate 
reality, then, being infinite in its nature and extent, 
manifests itself in an infinite number and variety 
of objects. And our consciousness, though it can- 



72 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

not know the ultimate reality directly, knows it in- 
directly through its forms of manifestation, that is, 
through the phenomena. Consequently, the phe- 
nomena or the objects of knowledge and experience 
are not determined by consciousness, but their ex- 
istence is independent of consciousness, and their 
forms of manifestation are but the resultant of the 
cooperation between the ultimate reality and con- 
sciousness. 

What then becomes of Kant's theory that the 
inner relations produce the outer relations? How 
then is truth possible? 

Kant's theory, like Spencer's theory, when rigor- 
ously examined proves to be inherently defective. 
And when these two theories are put into opposition 
with each other, they cancel and neutralize each 
other and we are then left without an adequate 
theory of knowledge. Without such theory, how 
can we proceed to examine the relation between 
man and nature? According to Spencer, man 
would seem to be a perfect blank, and the material 
conditions of existence the absolutely determining 
factor in man's evolution. According to Kant, man 
would seem to be the absolute creator of his world. 
According to the former, man should not presume 
to meddle with the affairs of the material world? 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 73 

but leave it entirely to the universal process of evo- 
lution. According to Kant, man can at once pro- 
ceed to change the world to suit his pleasure, by 
merely taking thought. 

These respective views are absolutely inevitable, 
if one takes either the view of Spencer or Kant. 
That both views are fundamentally wrong and 
false, we shall adequately show later on. For the 
present we must proceed with the immediate task 
before us — to find an adequate theory of knowl- 
edge. 



CHAPTER IV. 

"iy" ANT is right in granting to consciousness a na- 
-*-^- ture of its own, but he is wrong in denying to 
the material world a nature of its own. Spencer is 
right in granting to the material world a nature of 
its own, but he is wrong in denying to consciousness 
a nature of its own. A true philosophy must grant 
a nature of its own to consciousness as well as to 
the material world, and only in the light of such 
philosophy can we correctly interpret social evolu- 
tion. If, then, we could formulate such philosophy, 
and out of the perpetual interaction between con- 
sciousness and the material world crystallize a 
theory of social evolution, that would be the phi- 
losophy of Marx. For, as we shall see later on, 
Marx's philosophy of social evolution started with 
the basic fact that between man and nature there 
is a perpetual interaction, and that out of this in- 
teraction results a joint evolution. 

Now, the formulation of such philosophy would 
be a tremendous though indispensable task. For- 
tunately, such philosophy was already formulated 
by a no less competent a man than Spinoza. The 

75 



76 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

next step, therefore, is to consider Spinoza's phil- 
osophy. 

Spinoza contemplates the Universe as the mani- 
festation of God — a being infinite in attributes, each 
of which manifests itself in infinite modes. To us 
are revealed but two of God's attributes — exten- 
sion and thought. These attributes, however, are 
revealed to us only in their modes of manifestation. 
Extension manifests itself to us in the material 
world, and thought manifests itself to us in our 
consciousness. 

The attributes of God are coeternal, coexistent 
and commensurate with the infinite power of God, 
each attribute following directly from the infinite 
nature of God. Therefore, one attribute cannot be 
the cause of the existence of another attribute, nor 
can one attribute determine the nature or the mode 
of manifestation of another attribute. From this 
follows that extension cannot produce thought, nor 
can thought produce extension. Each exists inde- 
pendently of the other; and it likewise follows that 
neither of these attributes can determine the nature 
or the mode of manifestation of the other. 

God's power is equal in all his attributes. His 
power of action is therefore equal to his power of 
thought. And, because God manifests himself 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 77 

equally in extension and in thought, it follows: 
Ordo et connexio idearum idem est, ac ordo et con- 
nexio rerum; that is, the order and connection of 
ideas is the same as the order and connection of 
things. As the attribute extension manifests itself 
to us in the material world, and the attribute 
thought manifests itself to us in our consciousness; 
it follows that the order and connection of things in 
the material world is the same as the order and 
connection of ideas in our consciousness. And, 
just as the attributes are independent of each other, 
so, also, are their modes of manifestation. There- 
fore, the material world cannot produce conscious- 
ness, nor can it determine its nature. Likewise, 
consciousness cannot produce the material world, 
nor can it determine its nature. Each, therefore, 
is a priori to the other. And, since the material 
world and consciousness are but the modes of mani- 
festation respectively of the attributes, extension 
and thought, it follows that the order and connec- 
tion of things in the material world is the same as 
the order and connection of ideas in our conscious- 
ness; and that from this follows the correspondence 
between consciousness and the material world, and 
it is this that makes truth possible. 

That this is the only rational philosophy of exis- 



?8 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MAItX 

tence, and that this philosophy, only, can give us 
an adequate theory of knowledge, we shall readily 
see when we test this philosophy in the light of the 
philosophies of Spencer and Kant. According to 
Spencer and Kant, the harmony between the inner 
relations and the outer relations ought to be perfect 
and complete, for each of these relations is the pro- 
duct of the other. The seal and its impression 
ought to correspond. But, as a matter of fact, this 
correspondence is far from perfect and complete. 
On the contrary, we find that at no time was there 
a harmonious correspondence between the inner 
relations and the outer relations. It was rather a 
lack of correspondence that resulted in maladjust- 
ments, failures, accidents, sickness, death, and at 
times wholesale destruction of life. How can Spen- 
cer and Kant explain this lack of correspondence? 
The fact is, that neither of them attempted to ex- 
plain this in an adequate manner. But, according 
to Spinoza, this disharmony is easily explained. 
The material world is the manifestation of the at- 
tribute extension, and consciousness is the mani- 
festation of the attribute thought. The order and 
connection of the one are the same as the order 
and connection of the other. This gives rise to a 
correspondence between consciousness and the ma- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 79 

terial world. But, because these phenomena are 
distinct from and independent of each other, like 
x the attributes which they manifest, the correspon- 
dence between them is but general. They agree 
with each other in their general course of develop- 
ment. In time and space they adjust themselves to 
each other, but that adjustment requires time and 
space, and is effected only in a general way. But, 
because that adjustment is general, it follows that 
sometimes the material world is lagging behind 
consciousness, and sometimes consciousness is lag- 
ging behind the material world. And this is what 
the history of life teaches, what science corrobor- 
ates, and what we shall find to be true of human 
life. 

Here, then, we have a philosophy that furnishes 
us a theory of knowledge that is adequate, consis- 
tent and rational. It shows us the a priori nature 
of consciousness, the source and nature of the a 
priori forms of intuitions, concepts and ideas, the 
correspondence between consciousness and the ma- 
terial world, and, also, why this correspondence is 
imperfect. And it is this philosophy that Marx 
used as an instrument with which to investigate and 
interpret the facts of human life, and in the light 
of this philosophy Marx sought to discover the na- 



80 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

ture and the course of social evolution. And it is 
this philosophy that will be presented here. 

We must start out with the theory, that conscious- 
ness is a reality distinct from and independent of 
the material world, that between consciousness and 
the material world there is an essential and per- 
petual interaction, that this interaction causes a 
correspondence to arise between them, and that, 
therefore, the evolution of the one is organically 
bound up with the evolution of the other. 

But, as this philosophy is a synthesis, we must 
first proceed to examine the role of these factors 
separately from each other; that is, we shall first 
consider the influence which the material condi- 
tions have on man; and, secondly, the role which 
man plays in influencing the material conditions; 
and, finally, the course of evolution which mani- 
fests itself in the evolution of the material world 
and society. 



CHAPTER V. 

TT is clear that, though life brings into the ma- 
•*• terial world a nature of its own, life can mani- 
fest itself only when coming into contact with the 
material world — a contact which brings about an 
interaction between life and the material world. 
In that interaction neither factor yields to the other; 
each factor asserts itself to its fullest extent, re- 
maining true to its own nature. Nevertheless, the 
resultant manifestation of that interaction, like the 
diagonal in the case of the parallelogram of forces, 
partakes of the nature of both. The knowledge of 
the a priori nature of life will not tell us what 
forms life will assume in the material world. To 
know the latter, we must complement the knowledge 
of the a priori nature of life with a knowledge of 
its manifestation in the material world; that is, we 
must complement the former with experience. 

It is the same with the consciousness of life. 
Though consciousness brings into the world of ex- 
perience a priori intuitions, concepts and ideas of 
right and wrong, consciousness cannot manifest 
these intuitions, concepts and ideas in their pure 

81 



82 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

forms, for consciousness, like life itself, can mani- 
fest itself only when coming into contact with ob- 
jects of experience. In that contact there takes 
place an interaction between consciousness and the 
objects of experience — an interaction in which 
neither factor yields to the other, each remaining 
true to itself, and each asserting itself to its fullest 
extent. Nevertheless, just as we saw in the case of 
life, the resultant manifestation partakes of the na- 
ture of both, and it is this manifestation that reveals 
to us what we call the phenomenal world. Hence, 
as in the case of life, a mere a priori knowledge of 
the intuitions, concepts and ideas which conscious- 
ness brings into the world of experience with itself 
will not enable us to know what concrete forms 
consciousness will assume in the world of experi- 
ence. To know this we must complement our knowl- 
edge of the a priori forms of consciousness with a 
knowledge of its concrete manifestations, that is, 
we must complement the former with experience. 

That this is the case with all phenomena will be- 
come clear when considering, as an illustration, the 
case of light. Light brings into the material world 
a nature of its own. Nevertheless, light can mani- 
fest its nature only when coming into contact with 
material objects, otherwise the nature and activity 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 83 

of life would remain unmanifested to us. On com- 
ing into contact with material objects light is inter- 
cepted by the infinite number of particles of the 
objects, reflecting the activity of light in an infinite 
variety of colors. Now, from a mere knowledge 
of the a priori nature of light we cannot tell what 
colors it will manifest when coming into contact 
with material objects. To know this we must com- 
plement the knowledge of the a priori nature of 
light with the knowledge of its concrete manifesta- 
tions, that is, with observation. 

And this is true of all phenomena. Now, if the 
material world and consciousness were of a fixed 
and determined nature, consciousness would re- 
flect that fixed and determined nature, that is, the 
intuitions, concepts and ideas resulting from the 
interaction between consciousness and the material 
world. But neither the material world nor con- 
sciousness is of a fixed and determined nature. 
On the contrary, both are in perpetual flux; change 
is the eternal and universal order of existence. And 
the question arises : what effect has this change upon 
the resultant concrete forms of consciousness? This 
question would not be hard to answer if we could 
satisfy ourselves that the changes taking place in 
both the material world and consciousness were 



84 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

synchronous and in every respect perfectly alike. 
But, we saw before that, though the attributes ex- 
tension and thought emanate from the same source 
and tend to proceed in a harmonious manner with 
each other, harmony manifests itself only in 
the long run. In particular cases and at given times 
we, therefore, find that, though virtually there may 
be harmony, in fact there is rather disharmony — 
a disharmony resulting from the apparent unequal 
evolution of these concurring and cooperating fac- 
tors. Under these conditions, the question which 
we are considering is significant. It is incumbent 
upon us to find out what effect a prior change in 
the material conditions of existence will have upon 
human consciousness, and what effect a prior 
change in human consciousness will have upon the 
material conditions of existence. As the general 
question which we are considering naturally 
divides itself into two specific questions, we 
shall consider these three questions separately; 
firstly, the effect which a change in the material 
conditions has upon human consciousness; second- 
ly, the effect which a change in human conscious- 
ness has upon the material conditions; and, thirdly, 
the concurrent effect of both upon the evolution of 
society. 



CHAPTER VI. 

TN THE Communist Manifesto it is asked: "Does 
A it require deep intuition to comprehend that 
man's ideas, views and conceptions, in a word, 
man's consciousness changes with every change in 
the conditions of his material existence, his social 
relations, and his social life? When people speak of 
ideas that revolutionize society, they do but express 
the fact that within the old society the elements of 
a new society have been created, and that the dis- 
solution of the old ideas but keeps even pace with 
the dissolution of the old conditions of existence." 
What is meant is this: When a new idea takes 
possession of the human mind to such extent as to 
seem to revolutionize society, this is but the mani- 
festation of a new element in the material con- 
ditions of existence, when in the material condi- 
tions of existence a new element arises, that element 
manifests itself in man's consciousness in the form 
of a new idea; and when the new element revolu- 
tionizes the material conditions of existence, the 
idea which that new element reflects in man's con- 
sciousness seems to him to be revolutionary. There- 

85 



86 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

fore, it is not the idea, but the new element in the 
material conditions of existence that revolution- 
izes society. 

In other words, new ideas do not come to us from 
on high in the shape of revelations, nor from the 
regions of thought in the shape of concepts; but, 
when the material conditions of existence generate 
a new element, that element reflects itself in man's 
consciousness in the form of a new idea. How this 
process is being effected, how a change in the ma- 
terial conditions of existence reflects itself in a cor- 
responding change in man's consciousness, these 
questions cannot adequately be answered here. For 
present purposes it will suffice to point out in gen- 
eral terms of the underlying theory. We already 
saw that life is a continuous adjustment of inner 
relations to outer relations; without such adjust- 
ment, without a correspondence between the inner 
relations and the outer relations, life is impossible. 
An insight into the reality of life reveals the fol- 
lowing truth: Our intellect is determined in its 
function by our feelings: as we feel so we think; 
the wish is father to the thought; or, as Spencer 
states, the feelings are the master, the intellect is 
but their servant. Our feelings are determined in 
their tendency by our daily conduct. As we daily 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 87 

conduct ourselves in the pursuit of the necessaries 
of life so we feel and so we think. Our conduct 
is determined by the material conditions of exis- 
tence; as these conditions are so we must conduct 
ourselves, so we must feel and so we must think. 
It is essential for our purposes that we have an 
adequate understanding of this theory; therefore, 
a few illustrations will be necessary. 

If one never had the occasion to tell lies, his 
feeling of self-respect will rebel against a lie, and 
his intellect will condemn it as an act unbecoming 
a self-respecting person. Indeed, why should a 
human being blacken his tongue and besmirch his 
conscience with lying? Nevertheless, if the ma- 
terial conditions should make it necessary for him 
to tell lies, and tell them quite often, he will yield 
to that necessity and in a short time will acquire a 
habit to tell lies and feelings favoring that habit 
to such extent, that he would rather tell lies than 
the truth. And then his intellect will extol lying 
to the height of a virtue — as a mark of cleverness 
— and then like the businessman, the lawyer, the 
statesman and the like he will pride himself at his 
superior skill in telling lies. 

Again, if one never had the occasion to steal, 
his human nature will revolt against stealing and 



88 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

his intellect will condemn it as a crime against 
society and a sin against God. Yet, if the material 
conditions of existence should make it necessary for 
him to steal, and steal quite often, he will yield 
to that necessity and pretty soon will acquire a 
habit for stealing and an inclination favoring that 
habit to such extent, that he would rather steal and 
run the risk of all consequences than seek to earn 
the means of life by honest labor. And then his 
intellect will tell him that stealing is the proper 
act for clever and self-respecting persons; that 
stealing leads to wealth and social influence; and 
then, also, he will look with contempt upon the 
millions of honest toilers who are content to put 
up with all humiliation and privation for the sake 
of a mere living. 

Finally, if one never had the occasion to shed 
human blood, his whole being experiences a horror 
at the shedding of human blood, and his intellect 
regards murder as the most heinous crime against 
society and the gravest sin against God. Never- 
theless, if the material conditions of existence 
should make it necessary for him to shed human 
blood, and to shed it quite often, he will yield to 
that necessity, and will soon acquire a passion for 
shedding human blood to such extent that the act 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 89 

of murder will thrill him with indescribable joy. 
And then his intellect will wake up to the discovery 
that shedding of human blood is heroic, patriotic 
and noble, that it brings out in man his material 
virtues and divine attributes. Then, also, he will 
begin to yearn after the glorious death of the sol- 
dier on the battlefield amidst the carnage and 
slaughter of human beings, surrounded by rivers 
of human blood. And then he will look with the 
most profound disgust and intensive hatred upon 
those that feel repugnance against the shedding of 
human blood or have moral scruples against mur- 
der. He would then be ready to exterminate these 
persons as enemies of society, atheists and im- 
moral persons. 

These illustrations show that we think as we feel; 
we feel as we behave; and we behave as the ma- 
terial conditions make it necessary to behave. We 
saw before that, though life in its consciousness 
brings into the material world a priori ideas of right 
and wrong — ideas which may constitute the ideals 
after which life may constantly strive — in actual 
experience these ideas cannot manifest themselves 
in their a priori forms, for in actual experience 
consciousness comes into organic contact with the 
material world, and the ideas are but the resultant 



90 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

of this contact. The ideas, therefore, reflect both 
consciousness and the material world. 

The aim of life is one — to live. Life is not 
concerned about abstract notions of right and 
wrong. It is concerned only about itself. And 
from its own point of view does life judge of every- 
thing that comes within the range of its experi- 
ence. It approves that as right which is conducive 
to its well-being, and condemns that as wrong which 
is detrimental to its existence. But as life cannot 
take the material world and change it ad libitum 
\o suit its own well-being; life is endeavoring to 
overcome the discrepancy between itself and the 
material world by an adjustment to the material 
world — an adjustment which does not mean a com- 
plete surrender, but a modus vivendi which makes 
life's existence tolerably agreeable. That adjust- 
ment, then, is a prime necessity. And, because of 
that necessity, life does not first think and then act; 
but, on the contrary, "Im Amfang war die That;" 
life first acts and then it reflects. The act, there- 
fore, precedes the thought. The feelings are life's 
instinctive judgments of its own experiences. If 
the experience is conducive to the well-being of 
life, the latter feels gratified, and that gratification 
manifests itself in feelings favoring that experience. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 91 

On the other hand, if that experience is detrimental 
to life, the latter feels hurt or pained, and that 
feeling is life's instinctive aversion against that 
experience. 

With the development of human intelligence, 
men acquired the power and the use of language. 
Their advanced intelligence taught them that their 
primitive desires, in their naked forms, were just 
as unpresentable as their naked bodies were. Then 
they learned to cover up their desires with lan- 
guage, as they had previously learned to cover up 
their bodies with clothes. Since then men ac- 
quired the habit and perfected the art of conceal- 
ing their real desires behind expressions of noble 
intentions. The more civilized men became the 
more skillfully did they learn to pave their way 
to hellish purposes with the noblest of intentions. 
As Hegel said: "In a reflecting and reasoning age, 
a man is not worth much who cannot give a good 
reason for everything, no matter how bad or how 
crazy. Everything in the world that has been done 
wrong, has been done so for the best of reasons." 
Hence, we must not be deceived by the assurances 
of men or by their professions. We must go deeper 
into the reality of life. We must search for the 
cause of their actions, not in their religions and 



92 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

philosophies, but in the material conditions of ex- 
istence. And, when we come to those conditions, 
we shall discover the real reason for the specific 
conducts of men. And, when we find that men 
changed their views, we must be certain that the 
change of view is a manifestation of a change of 
inclination that had already taken place in the 
consciousness of the men — a change which was al- 
ready determined by the previous change in the 
material conditions of existence. Two illustrations 
from American history will exemplify this truth 
adequately. 

In 1914 the Great War broke out — a war which 
threatened to break out into a universal extermina- 
tion of the human race. When the war broke out, 
the nations involved in it flooded the world with 
printed assurances that they were severally fighting 
for great and worthy causes. Some were fighting 
for culture, others for liberty, others for democ- 
racy, and so on the whole gamut of high principles. 
Even the socialists of the respective countries of 
Europe assured the world that in fighting against 
their own comrades they were but fighting for the 
cause of socialism. It apeared, therefore, that it 
was a war for religion, culture, democracy, hu- 
manity and socialism. Never before did mankind 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 93 

fight so holy and noble a war as this one was. And, 
because this was the holiest of wars, mankind con- 
fidently expected the millenium to come at the end 
of the war. The lofty and noble spirit that em- 
braced mankind aroused the nations to such height 
of unselfishness and holy zeal that even the prosaic 
and unduly practical Americans were caught in the 
enthusiasm and, therefore, they too plunged into 
the war. The Americans also sought a baptism in 
that holy war. 

But, alas, how illusive all that turned out to be! 
Even President Wilson — that sublime idealist, the 
acclaimed Messiah and redeemer of mankind — 
even he had to admit that the war was fought for 
very material ends. And, yet, there was no need 
to wait until after the war had brought upon the 
human race infinite misery and destruction of life 
and property to discover the cause and aim of 
that war. A little intelligent insight into the reality 
of life would have shown that the cause and pur- 
pose of the war could be no other than a material 
cause, a material purpose, namely, the rivalry be- 
tween groups of capitalists for the possession of 
foreign markets on which to dump the surplus 
produce and to further the material interests of the 
respective groups of capitalists. This was pointed 



94 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

out by the socialists before the war and during the 
time since the outbreak of the war. And, not only 
this, the practical Americans, with their true in- 
stinct for business, perceived the material basis of 
that war outright. 

When the war broke out the Americans became 
all of a sudden very pious and thankful to God. 
Their enthusiastic thanksgiving resounded from 
one end of the world to the other. All joined in 
that thanksgiving: priests, professors, statesmen, 
jurists, financiers, businessmen and even plain 
workingmen. They all jubilated: they all thanked 
Providence for the prosperity it brought to this 
country. God in his infinite wisdom had created 
the world ; planted on it the human race ; and in the 
fulness of time sent to men his only beloved son, 
that he might offer himself a ransom for the sins 
of men and convert them into good Christians, that 
they might rise to power, increase and multiply, 
build up cities, states and empires, cultivate the 
arts, the sciences and the philosophies, establish a 
wonderful system of production and distribution 
of the necessaries of life, overflow beyond the 
boundaries of the old world, reach the new world, 
bring out an American people, a Christian people; 
and then God, in his infinite kindness, sent a spirit 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 95 

of war to the nations of the world, that they might 
destroy civilization, religion, property and life, to 
the end, that the Americans, the only beloved chil- 
dren of God, might have material prosperity! Oh, 
what wonderful conception of the ways of God 
this is! What sublime unselfishness the Americans 
then manifested! 

At first the Americans saw the will of God was 
that the European nations should fight till their 
strength would be exhausted, that the Americans 
should then be able to have all the foreign markets 
free to themselves, and that therefore the Americans 
were to maintain a proud indifference to the for- 
tunes of the warring nations. But, when the hated 
Germans threatened the material interests of the 
Americans, then the latter awoke to the discovery 
that God wanted them to fight the Germans. Of 
course, the Americans did not say so. On the 
contrary, they still persisted that they were con- 
strained to go to war by moral reasons, namely, to 
avenge the wrongs done by the Germans to Belgium, 
and to punish Germany for violating the inter- 
national relations between the nations and such 
other reasons. But all these reasons it now clearly 
appears, were but masks to cover up the real rea- 
sons, which were of a very material nature. The 



96 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

material interests of the Americans were threatened 
by the Germans, and to protect those interests the 
former went into the war against the latter. 

Take another case. For about half a century 
prior to the outbreak of the Civil War in the United 
States a vigorous agitation against slavery was car- 
ried on in the Northern States. The question arises: 
How came it that the people in the Northern States 
were against slavery, while the people in the South- 
ern States were for slavery? 

A superficial observation of the facts would 
lead one to conclude that that was so because the 
people in the North were intellectually and morally 
superior to the people in the South and, therefore, 
the former perceived and felt that slavery was un- 
just and inhuman, and therefore wanted to abolish 
it; while the latter neither perceived nor felt the 
injustice and inhumanity of slavery, and therefore 
sought to perpetuate it. 

But we know now that the people in the South 
were neither intellectually nor morally inferior to 
the people in the North. How, then, came it that 
the same people, coming from the same stock of 
Europeans, carrying in their blood the same degree 
of culture, believing in the same God, following 
the same religion, and living under the same Gov- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 97 

ernment, and in all respects so much alike to one 
another, differed from one another so radically on 
the question of slavery? 

The answer is to be found in the different ma- 
terial conditions of existence. For a long time 
prior to the outbreak of the Civil War modern 
commerce and industry rapidly developed in the 
North. To carry on successfully modern com- 
merce and industry, it is necessary to employ free, 
intelligent and self-responsible labor. The people 
in the North, to succeed in commerce and industry, 
were required by modern conditions of production 
and distribution to employ such free labor. And, 
having employed such labor, and finding such em- 
ployment profitable, the employers acquired the 
habit and an inclination favoring the habit of 
employing such labor. And then the intellect dis- 
covered, on the one hand, that the employment of 
such labor was in harmony with justice, humanity 
and religion, and, on the other hand, that the em- 
ployment of slave labor was contrary to justice, 
humanity and religion. 

On the other hand, in the South the people still 
continued to produce cotton, sugar, tobacco, and 
such other staple articles, which could be carried 
on profitably by the employment of slave labor. 



98 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

The slaveholders, therefore, continued to find it 
profitable to employ slaves ontheir plantations and, 
continuing to employ slave labor, as they had done 
for centuries, they continued in the Same habits 
and inclinations, and therefore their intellect could 
not perceive the injustice, the inhumanity, of 
slavery. As Goethe says: "Wenn ihr es nidrt fiihlt, 
ihr werdet es nich erjagen"; that is, if you do not 
feel it, you will not perceive it. The slaveholders 
in the South could not feel for the slaves, there- 
fore they could not perceive the inhumanity of 
slavery. 

Hence, the people in the North were agajinst 
slavery, while the People in the South continued 
to be in favor of slavery. Once they were divided 
materially on the question of slavery, they wejre 
also divided on this question intellectually am d 
morally. Thus it came to pass that both sides to 
the great controversy supported their antagonistic 
views on slavery by arguments taken from the same 
Bible, the same Religion, the same Constitution, 
and the same facts of life. The resulting war, 
therefore, was not caused by a difference of relig- 
ion, morality or justice, but a difference of material 
interests. As Marx says in his essay "The Civil 
War in America": "The present struggle between 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 99 

South and North is, therefore, nothing else than a 
struggle between two systems, the system of slavery 
and the system of free labor. Because both sys- 
tems cannot any longer exist on the American con- 
tinent without friction, the present war broke out. 
It can only end with the victory of one system or the 
other." 

These illustrations, which can be multiplied, 
show that men think as they feel, they feel as they 
act, and they act as they are required by the ma- 
terial conditions of existence. Therefore, man's 
consciousness changes with every change in the con- 
ditions of his material existence, his social relations 
and his social life. If, therefore, men want to rise 
mentally and morally, they must seek to accom- 
plish that rise through the change and the improve- 
ment of the material conditions of existence; for, 
by merely taking thought they cannot add a cubit 
to their mental and moral stature. 

This, however, should not lead to the conclusion 
that men are but the passive reflexes of the material 
conditions of existence, and that they are but what 
the material conditions of existence determine them 
to be ; that would deny the distinct and independent 
nature of life. That would bring us back to Spen- 
cer's view— a view which we saw was only half 



100 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

true. Life is not a product and copy of the ma- 
terial conditions of existence, as Spencer believed; 
but life is distinct from and independent of the 
material conditions of existence. Life merely co- 
operates with the material conditions of existence, 
and in that cooperation, as we saw, neither factor 
loses itself. The materialist interpretation of his- 
tory teaches us that men make their own history, 
though they do not make it out of the whole cloth. 
This, indeed, follows from the very conditions of 
existence. Life is infinite in its! capacity and 
tendency, and as such it cannot content itself with 
the limited means it finds at its disposal. 

When the earth's surface was yet unconquered 
by life, living beings had room enough to spread 
over the earth, to increase and multiply. Then it 
was a case of adjusting itself to the conditions of 
existence. But when the earth was covered all over 
with living beings, when every available part of 
the earth's surface Was taken up by living beings, 
life could continue to exist and exercise its capacity 
and gratify its tendency to increase and multiply 
only by using itself as a basis, that is, by preying 
upon itself. Since then living beings had to bring 
out natural weapons for attack and defence, and 
life became a struggle for the means of life. And 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 101 

by bringing out ever more improved weapons to 
struggle for the means of life, life could bring out, 
at the expense of lower forms of living beings, 
ever higher forms of beings. In this manner life 
sought to transcend the natural limitations of 
the means of life. On the one hand, life endeavored 
to make a better and more economic use of the 
limited means for life; and ? on the other hand, it 
endeavored to attain to an ever higher form of 
existence; for, in proportion as life rose in degree 
of development it substituted for its capacity and 
tendency physically to increase and multiply a 
capacity and tendency to bring out and develop 
mental, and moral faculties, by the exercise of 
which life finds an ever-increasing scope for activ- 
ity and gratification. Necessity, then, drives life 
towards a higher and ever higher form of existence. 
And this necessity manifests itself in mankind in a 
striving after a higher mental and moral develop- 
ment. But since human life, like life generally, 
is bound up with the material means of life, men 
can make their own history only by means of the 
material means, and as the latter permit. 

The urge of life to transcend the limited means 
of life does not spring from the latter, but from its 
own nature. The material means are rather a 



102 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

hindrance to and a constraint upon life. But, as 
Bergson says, these material means, though a hind- 
rance and constraint, are the instrument and a 
stimulus to life. It is for these, reasons that social- 
ists direct their efforts primarily towards a radical 
change in the production and distribution of the 
material means of life, and upon that change as a 
basis to inaugurate such state of society as will 
afford the opportunity and furnish the incentive 
for the members tQ strive after a higher and ever 
higher development. Then the infinite nature of 
life will find unlimited scope, not in the mere 
physical increase and multiplication, but in the 
exercise of their intellectual and moral powers. 
In this way the age-long problem imposed upon life 
by the limited means for life will have been solved. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Per naturam naturantem nobis intelligendum est id quod in 
se est et per se concipitur, sive talia substantiae attributa quae 
eternam et infinitam essentiam exprimunt, hoc est Deus, quatenus 
ut causa libera consideratur. Per naturatam autem intelligo 
id omne quod es necessitate Dei naturae sive uiuscuiusque Dei 
attributorum sequitur, hoc est, omne Dei attributorum modos, 
quatenus considerantur ut res, quae in Deo sunt et quae sine 
Deo nee esse nee concipi possunt. 

Spinoza: Ethices. 

HF^HE materialistic interpretation of history is 
-*■ generally understood to teach that man is but 
the product of the material conditions of existence; 
as these are at any given time so must man be. 
According to this view, human history is like a 
wave rolling over the sea. Just as the extent and 
the course of the wave are determined, not by the 
particles of water composing the wave, but by the 
physical causes surrounding the surface of the sea 
so also is human history determined, not by the 
individual members of society, but by the material 
conditions of existence surrounding and affecting 
society. This, however, as we shall presently see 
is a crude and fundamentally false interpretation 
of history. It is not the interpretation Marx gave 
to history. 

103 



104 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

Marx epitomized his philosophy of history by 
saying: "Men make their own history, but they 
do not make it out of the whole cloth; they do not 
make it under conditions chosen by themselves, but 
under such as are immediately found at hand, given 
and transmitted." The significance of this we shall 
appreciate after we shall have considered a great 
truth brought to light by Spinoza. 

Spinoza contemplates existence as manifesting 
itself both as active and passive; as natura naturans 
and natura naturata. The meaning of Spinoza will 
be best understood from considering a few illus- 
trations. 

Suppose that in my hand I hold a quantity of 
potato seeds. These seeds have potentially the 
capacity to sprout out, grow and develop into 
potato plants, and to reproduce seeds of their own 
kind. Nevertheless, of themselves they cannot 
bring out their native powers. They must be 
brought into intimate cooperation with the proper 
material elements: soil, water, sunshine, air, and 
the like. Now, suppose that I put these seeds into 
the ground. In time they will sprout out, grow and 
develop into potato plants, and eventually will re- 
produce seeds of their own kind. 

It is therefore clear that the cooperation between 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 105 

the seeds and the proper material elements was 
necessary that the seeds might bring out potato 
plants and potato seeds. Nevertheless, in this co- 
operation the seeds and the material elements did 
not function in the same capacity; for, while the 
latter functioned passively, merely furnishing the 
seeds the proper materials and conditions for the 
organization and development of the seeds, the 
seeds functioned actively in that organization and 
development. It was the work of the seeds that 
gathered the proper materials, organized them in 
the appropriate manner, and developed into potato 
plants and reproduced potato seeds. 

That the work of organization and development 
was done by the seeds and not by the material ele- 
ments will readily appear from the fact that if, 
instead of the potato seeds, we had put into the 
same ground tomato seeds, the latter would have 
brought forth out of the same materials and con- 
ditions tomato plants and reproduced tomato seeds. 

We see then that, in bringing out certain results, 
Nature manifests herself on the one hand as natura 
naturans, that is, as active nature, and, on the 
other hand, as natura naturata, that is, as passive 
nature. Speaking generally, we may say the in- 
organic world with relation to the plant world 



106 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

functions as natura naturata, passively; and the 
plant world with relation to the inorganic world 
functions as natura naturans, actively. 

When we go a step higher in the scale of evolu- 
tion and we come to the animal world, we find the 
same relationship of nature. That the animals may 
live and perpetuate their kind, they must be brought 
into cooperation with the proper environment; the 
soil, water, air, sunshine, plants, and the like. 
Nevertheless, with reference to the animals, the 
inorganic and the plant world function as natura 
naturata, merely furnishing to the animals the 
proper materials and conditions for their existence, 
while the animals with relation to their environment 
function as natura naturans. It is the animals that 
gather the materials, organize them in the appro- 
priate manner, and reproduce beings of their own 
kind. Out of the same materials and within the 
same environment the horse builds up a horse be- 
ing, and reproduces beings of its own kind; while 
the bull builds up a bull being, and reproduces 
beings of its own kind. 

And, likewise, when we come to men we find the 
same relationship of nature. That men may live 
and perpetuate their kind, they must cooperate with 
the proper environment: soil, water, air ? sunshine. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 107 

animals, plants, and the inorganic world. Never- 
theless, men only with relation to the rest of nature 
function as natura naturans; while the rest of na- 
ture with relation to men functions as natura 
naturata. 

When we contemplate Nature as a whole it ap- 
pears as a pyramids — broad and massive at the 
base and tapering to a point at the apex. At the 
base of the pyramid of Nature is the inorganic 
world ; next above it is the plant world ; then is the 
animal world; and highest of all is the human 
race. This pyramid of Nature manifests the ca- 
pacities of natura naturata and natura naturans at 
the two opposite extremes. At the base it is pas- 
sive and at the apex it is active ; so that the higher a 
being ascends, and the nearer it approaches towards 
the apex, the more it partakes of the active and 
creative nature, and therefore the more power it 
acquires for organization, construction and develop- 
ment and vice versa. And so it comes to pass that 
whatever the pyramid loses in mass as it approaches 
the apex it gains in power. 

This pyramid, however, is not of a fixed nature 
and in a fixed state. On the contrary, this pyramid 
is perpetually moving onward and forward with its 
apex in the front, cutting into the unknown and 



108 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

the future and adding to its mass. The apex is 
perpetually conquering, inventing and creating, 
while the base gathers up the accomplished results. 
Hence it comes to pass that the pioneers of the 
human race are the natura naturans of the pyramid 
of nature, while the conservatives are the natura 
naturata; the former perpetually conquer, invent 
and create, while the latter gather up the accom- 
plished results of the former and preserve them. 
It is this natura naturans that in the pioneers mani- 
fests itself in an intuition, a vision into the future; 
it is this vision that gives them the abiding faith and 
the courage to struggle for the realization of the 
vision. And, as Emerson says an institution is but 
the lengthened shadow of a great man, the great 
man has always his gaze towards the future, while 
mass merely follow him. 

Now, though Nature at the base manifests her- 
self as natura naturata, and at the apex as natura 
naturans, it does not mean that Nature is verily so 
divided into two distinct capacities. On the con- 
trary, is at one with herself, and everywhere mani- 
fests her oneness. Nevertheless, she manifests her- 
self in this dual capacity at the opposite extremes. 
An illustration will make it clear. 

A magnet has two poles of opposite natures — 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 109 

a positive pole and a negative pole. Now, suppose 
that the magnet be cut into two parts. Then, in- 
stead of one magnet, we shall have two magnets, 
each with a positive and negative pole. Now, sup- 
pose that these two magnets be again divided and 
subdivided until they are reduced to the size of 
their molecules. Then we shall have as many mag- 
nets, each with a positive and negative pole, as we 
have molecules. Nevertheless, when all these 
molecules are consolidated into one magnet, they 
manifest their individual properties jointly, on one 
end of the magnet their positive poles, and on the 
other end of the magnet their negative poles. The 
same is true of Nature. Every particle of substance 
possesses both capacities: natura naturans and na- 
tura naturata. But, when all substance is con- 
solidated into one as indeed it is — then the sub- 
stance manifests its two capacities jointly, — at the 
base of the pyramid of Nature the natura naturata 
and at the apex the natura naturans. 

Now, since mankind is at the apex of the pyramid 
of Nature, they, more than all other living beings, 
partake of the nature of natura naturans and they, 
therefore, more than all other living beinga, have 
the power to shape, use and control the material 
conditions of existence. And in proportion as 



110 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

mankind rises higher and higher in the pyramid 
of Nature do they partake ever more of the active 
and creative function of Nature, and in that pro- 
portion also do they acquire the power to control 
and determnie their conditions of existence. Men, 
therefore, make their own history, though they do 
not make that history out of the whole cloth, for 
men must make their own history in cooperation 
with the material conditions of existence, and the 
nature of these conditions is not annihilated in that 
cooperation. On the contrary, as we shall see, this 
nature asserts itself in the result of that coopera- 
tion, and therefore that nature is to be reckoned 
with. Nevertheless, as men are the natura naturans 
and the material conditions of existence are the 
natura naturata, men have the controlling power 
over the material conditions of existence. 

In the beginning men made their history in a 
small way and in an imperfect manner. Gradually, 
as men rose ever higher in the scale of evolution 
and approached ever nearer to the apex of the 
pyramid of Nature, they acquired ever greater 
power over the material conditions of existence 
and, in that measure, also, greater power and free- 
dom to make their own history. A time, there- 
fore, must come when men will rise so high in the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 111 

scale of evolution and approach so near the apex 
of the pyramid of Nature, that in truth and in 
fact they will become the lords and the masters of 
their own destiny. But, this will not come as a 
matter of course. Men must constantly exert them- 
selves to transcend the constraining and downward 
pressure of the material conditions of existence and 
must perpetually strive to attain the apex of exist- 
ence. This, however, cannot be attained by the 
individuals working each for himself: it can be 
attained by mankind through cooperation. For this 
reason men must unite in a joint effort: and this is 
possible through a socialist movement. 

This is the view of Marx. And to show that 
this is his view, it will be necessary to call upon 
Marx himself to tell us his view in his own 
language. 

In Capital, volume I, chapter VII, section I, 
Marx tells us: — "Labor is, in the first place, a 
process in which both man and Nature participate, 
and in which man of his own accord starts, regu- 
lates, and controls the material reactions between 
himself and Nature. He opposes himself to Na- 
ture. He opposes himself to Nature as one of her 
own forces, setting in motion arms and legs, head 
and hands, the natural forces of his body, in order 



112 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

to appropriate Nature's productions in a form 
adapted to his own wants. By thus acting on the 
external world and changing it, he at the same time 
changes his own nature. He develops his slum- 
bering powers, and compels them to act in obedi- 
ence to his sway. We are not now dealing with 
those primitive instinctive forms of labor that re- 
mind us of the mere animal. An immeasurable 
interval of time separates the state of things in 
which a man brings his labor-power to market for 
sale as a commodity from that state in which human 
labor was still in its first instinctive stage. We pre- 
suppose labor in a form that stamps it as exclu- 
sively human. A spider conducts operations that 
resemble those of a weaver, and a bee puts to shame 
many an architect in the construction of her cells. 
But, what distinguishes the worst architect from the 
best of bees is this, that the architect raises his 
structure in imagination before he erects it in real- 
ity. At the end of every labor-process we get a 
result that already existed in the imagination of 
the laborer at its commencement. He not only 
effects the change of form in the material on which 
he works, but he also realizes a purpose of his own 
that gives the law to his modus operandi, and to 
which he must subordinate his will. 9 ' 



* THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 113 

Again, in his "Poverty of Philosophy," Marx 
says: — "Proudhon the economist has clearly under- 
stood that men make cloth, linen, silk-stuffs, in 
certain determined relations. But what he has not 
understood is that these determined social relations 
of production are as much produced by men as are 
the cloth, the linen, and so on. The social rela- 
tions are intimately attached to the productive for- 
ces. In acquiring new productive processes men 
change their mode of production, and in changing 
their mode of production, their manner of gaining 
a living, they change all their social relations. The 
windmill gives you a society with the feudal lord; 
the steammill, a society with the industrial capital- 
ist. The same men who establish social relations 
conformably with their material productivity, pro- 
duce also the principles, the ideas, the categories, 
conformably with their social relations. Thus 
these ideas, these categories, are not more eternal 
than the relations which they express." 

Again, in a note to chapter XV of Capital, vol- 
ume I, Marx says: — "Darwin has interested us in 
the history of Nature's technology — i.e., in the for- 
mation of the organs of plants and animals, which 
organs serve as instruments of production for sus- 
taining life. Does not the history of the productive 



114 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

organs of man, of organs that are the material 
basis of all social organization, deserve equal atten- 
tion? And would not such a history be easier to 
compile, since, as Vico says, human history differs 
from natural history in this, that we have made 
the former, but not the latter? Technology dis- 
closed man's mode of dealing with Nature, the 
process of production by which he sustains his 
life, and thereby also lays bare the mode of forma- 
tion of his social relations, and of the mental con- 
ceptions that flow from them. Every history of 
religion, even, that fails to take account of this 
material basis, is uncritical. It is, in reality, much 
easier to discover by analysis the earthly core of 
the misty creations of religion than, conversely, it 
is to develop from the actual relations of life the 
corresponding celestialized forms of those rela- 
tions. The latter method is the only materialistic, 
and therefore the only scientific one. The weak 
points in the abstract materialism of natural sci- 
ence, a materialism that excludes history and its 
process, are at once evident from the abstract and 
ideological conceptions of its spokesmen, whenever 
they venture beyond the bounds of their own 
specialty." 

The foregoing conclusively show that, according 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 115 

,to Marx, man, in his cooperation with the material 
world, is the controlling factor; and, as man is an 
historic being, that is, a being in whom constantly 
accumulate the results of the experience of the 
race, as man progresses, rises in the scale of evolu- 
tion, and attains ever nearer to the apex of Nature, 
he becomes ever more the master of the conditions 
of existence. This view should have been perfectly 
clear to every student of the works of Marx. Un- 
fortunately, however, the followers of Marx, like 
his opponents, did not understand the works of 
Marx, and therefore the materialist interpretation 
of history as formulated by Marx was misinter- 
preted. Therefore, before we proceed further in 
the unfolding of this philosophy, we must clear 
the ground of all misapprehensions. For this pur- 
pose I shall call upon Engels as the first witness. 

In his essay: — "Fuerbach: The Root of the So- 
cialist Philosophy" Engels says: "Marx and I are 
partly responsible for the fact, that the younger 
men have sometimes laid more stress on the eco- 
nomic side than it deserves. In meeting the attacks 
of our opponents, it was necessary for us to empha- 
size the dominant principle denied by them, and 
we did not always have time, place or opportunity 



116 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

to let the other factors which were concerned in the 
mutual action reaction get their deserts. 

"According to the materialistic view of history, 
the factor which is, in the last instance, decisive in 
history is the production and reproduction of ac- 
tual life. More than this neither Marx nor I have 
ever asserted. But when any one distorts this so as 
to read that the economic factor is the sole element 
he converts the statement into a meaningless, ab- 
stract, absurd phrase. The economic condition is 
the basis, but the various elements of the super- 
structure — the political forms of the class-contests 
and their results, the constitutions — the legal forms 
and also all the reflexes of these actual contests in 
the brains of the participants, the political, legal, 
philosophical theories, the religious views — all 
these exert an influence on the development of the 
historical struggles, and in many instances deter- 
mine their form. 

"The history of the growth of society appears, 
however, in one respect entirely different from that 
of nature. In nature are to be found, as far as we 
leave the reaction of man upon nature out of sight 
— mere unconscious blind agents which act upon 
one another, and in their interplay the universal 
law realizes itself. From all that happens, whether 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 117 

from the innumerable apparent accidents which 
appear upon the surface, or from the final results 
flowing from these accidental concurrences, nothing 
occurs as a desired conscious act. On the contrary, 
in the history of society the mere actors are all en- 
dowed with consciousness; they are agents imbued 
with deliberation or passion, men working towards 
an appointed end; nothing appears writhout an 
intentional purpose, without an end desired. But 
this distinction, important as it is for historical 
examination, particularly of single epochs and 
events, can make no difference to the fact that the 
course of history is governed by inner universal 
laws. Here, also, in spite of the wished-for aims 
of all the separate individuals, accident for the 
most part is apparent on the surface. That which 
is willed but rarely happens. In the majority of 
instances the numerous desired ends cross and inter- 
fere with each other, and either these ends are 
utterly incapable of realization, or the means are 
ineffectual. So the innumerable conflicts of indi- 
vidual wills and individual agents in the realm of 
history reach a conclusion which is on the whole 
analogous to that in the realm of nature, which is 
without definite purpose. The ends of the actions 
are intended, but the results which follow from the 



118 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

actions are not intended, or in so far as they ap- 
pear to correspond with the end desired, in their 
final results are quite different from the conclusion 
wished. Historical events in their entirety there- 
fore appear likewise controlled by chance. But 
even where according to superficial observation 
accident plays a part, it is, as a matter of fact, 
consistently governed by unseen, internal laws, and 
the only question remaining, therefore, is to dis- 
cover these laws. 

"Men make their own history in that each fol- 
lows his own desired ends independent of results, 
and the results of these many wills acting in dif- 
ferent directions and their manifold effects upon 
the world constitute history. It depends, therefore, 
upon what the great majority of individuals intend. 
The will is determined by passion or reflection, but 
the levers which passion or reflection immediately 
apply are of very different kinds. Sometimes it 
may be external circumstances, sometimes ideal 
motives, zeal for honor, enthusiasm for truth and 
justice, personal hate, or even purely individual 
peculiar ideas of all kinds. But on the one hand 
we have seen in history that the results of many 
individual wills produce effects, for the most part 
quite other than wished for— often, in fact, the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 119 

very opposite — their motives of action, likewise, 
are only of subordinate significance with regard to 
universal results. On the other hand, the question 
arises: What driving forces stand in turn behind 
these motives of action; what are the historical 
causes which transform themselves into motives of 
action in the brains of the agents? 

"The old materialism never set this question be- 
fore itself. Its philosophy of history, as far as it 
ever had one in particular, is hence essentially 
pragmatic; it judges everything from the stand- 
point of the immediate motive ; it divides historical 
agents into good and bad and finds as a whole that 
the good are defrauded and the bad are victorious, 
whence it follows that, as far as the old materialism 
is concerned, there is nothing edifying that can be 
obtained from a study of history, and for us, that 
in the realm of history the old materialism is 
-proved to be false, since it fixes active ideal im- 
pulses as final causes instead of seeking that which 
lies behind them, that which is the impulse of these 
impulses. The lack of logical conclusion does not 
lie in the fact that ideal impulses are recognized, 
but in this, that there is no further examination into 
the more remote causes of their activity." 

And previously Engels told us that, "According 



120 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

to the materialistic view of history, the factor which 
is, in last instance, decisive in history is the produc- 
tion and reproduction of actual life." Now, though 
Marx and Engels speak very plainly, yet the idea 
involved in the materialistic view of history is so 
abstract and comprehensive that it is hard to grasp 
it. This was the reason for the current misinter- 
pretation of the theory of Marx. As this brings us 
to the crux of the matter, it will be necessary to go 
into it at some length, so that we may carry out a 
correct working philosophy — a philosophy that 
shall guide us aright in our future strivings and 
struggles. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

3T)ETWEEN man and Nature there is a material 
-*-^ reaction: man and Nature act and react upon 
each other. Nature brings out man and moulds his 
nature, and man, in turn, modifies and shapes 
Nature. But, while man and Nature react upon 
each other, their purposes are not the same, because 
their natures are not the same. Nature is infinite 
in extent, duration and means. If nature has a pur- 
pose, that purpose must be commensurate with her 
infinite nature: her purpose, therefore, must be 
infinite, requiring infinite time, infinite space, in- 
finite energy, and infinite means to realize her pur- 
pose. Man, on the other hand, is limited and so 
also is his purpose. The aim of all human en- 
deavor is to attain to a state of wellbeing and 
happiness. All efforts of man are directed towards 
this limited aim. Now, since Nature and her pur- 
pose are infinite, while man and his purpose are 
finite, it follows that the purpose of the one cannot 
coincide with the purpose of the other. And since, 
furthermore, Nature does not depend upon man, 
while man depends upon Nature, it follows that, 

121 



122 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

in order to attain his aim, man must start, regu- 
late and control the material reactions between 
himself and Nature. Man must make his own 
history in a manner to suit himself, for Nature is 
not directly concerned about his history. 

In endeavoring to make his own history by 
means of Nature, man does not change the nature 
of things: he only makes the things of Nature to 
serve his purpose. As Hegel said: "Reason is 
just as cunning as she is powerful. Her cunning 
consists principally in her mediating activity, 
which, by causing objects to act and react on each 
other in accordance with their own nature, in this 
way, without any direct interference in the process, 
carries out reason's intentions." Now, reason is 
the very tool by means of which man makes Nature 
serve his purpose. It will, no doubt, seem strange 
that man, who is finite, controls Nature that is 
infinite. But, we shall presently see that this is the 
case. An illustration will prepare the mind for the 
perception of the truth. 

As a young man Marx married and thereafter 
became the father of several children. As the 
years went by Marx became ever more involved in 
the international labor movement. A time came 
when he perceived the necessity to formulate a 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 123 

fundamental and comprehensive plan for the 
emancipation of the working class and, through 
their emancipation, to put an end to all class- 
struggles and the resulting social evils. The plan 
is vast and complicated. It must be based upon a 
fundamental and comprehensive foundation. For 
that purpose an extensive and thorough knowledge 
of history, economics, science and philosophy, is 
absolutely essential. Marx throws himself with 
all his vigor into the fountain of knowledge. At 
last Marx drew from that fountain the required 
knowledge. All that now remains is to formulate 
that knowledge. Hence, the resolve to write his 
monumental work. 

Day and night Marx works in his study on the 
problems before him. One morning, while sitting 
in his study deeply absorbed in some difficult eco- 
nomic problem, his little daughter runs in, and in 
a sweet, childish manner, after telling him good 
morning, asks for a penny to buy candy. Marx is 
interrupted in his work, yet he is not angry, for he 
loves his child. He takes her on his lap, kisses her, 
and, after an exchange of some questions, gives her 
the penny. The child joyfully jumps away, and 
Marx resumes his work. 

Later on, while Marx is still working on his 



124 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

problems, his wife comes in, telling him that the 
landlord came for his rent and that the grocer and 
the butcher sent in their monthly bills and that 
she needs the money to pay the bills. Marx is 
again interrupted but he is not sorry, for he loves 
his wife, and he fully realizes that the bills will not 
brook any delay. He puts away his work for a 
while, talks with his wife on various matters, de- 
liberates on the possible source from which the 
money may be procured and, when the matter is 
disposed of, the wife goes away and Marx betakes 
himself again to his work. 

In the afternoon a delegation of trades-unions 
comes to Marx to consult him about the pending 
strike in several industries. Marx is again inter- 
rupted but he does not begrudge the delegates for 
this, for he is most vitally concerned about the 
pending struggle between labor and capital. Marx 
puts away his work and for several hours discusses 
with the delegates the situation and the problems in- 
volved in the pending strike. When the situation 
is thoroughly covered and definite conclusions are 
reached, the delegates go away and Marx turns 
kgain to his work. 

Towards evening Erigels comes to see Marx. 
When Engels comes, Marx puts away all work. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 125 

The books, pen and ink are left to themselves, 
cigars are lit, and Marx and Engels abandon them- 
selves to an unlimited discussion about all matters 
that come within the range of existence; for, when 
Engels comes to Marx, both feel entirely at one with 
each other, their aims and purposes coincide with 
each other, for they are perfectly identical. The 
coming of Engels to Marx is not an interruption, 
but rather a completion of Marx. Marx is never so 
much at home and never so thoroughly filled up 
with his own vast purpose as when Engels comes 
to him, for the purpose of Engels is his purpose. 
In their union both find their completion. 

Now, at this time of his life Marx lived neither 
for the sake of his children, that he might supply 
them with pennies for candy, nor for the sake of 
his wife, that he might provide for her a home and 
the necessaries of life, nor for the sake of the 
trades-unions, that he might help them in their 
struggles for some limited purposes, such as the 
shortening of the hours of labor or the nominal 
increase of their wages. For, though Marx loved 
his children and his wife, and though he was vitally 
concerned about the trades-unions, yet his real aim 
in life was infinitely greater. His real aim was 
to help the emancipation of the whole working class 



126 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

for all time to come and, through their emancipa- 
tion, to emancipate the whole human race for all 
time to come from slavery, oppression and exploi- 
tation, and to secure to mankind an existence of 
supreme and continuous happiness. And, though 
Marx was ready to do everything in his power to 
provide the necessaries and the comforts of life for 
his wife and children and though he was most 
willing and ready to help the trades-unions in their 
struggles for immediate gains and some improve- 
ments in their conditions of life; yet, none of these 
purposes fully filled up the soul of Marx. Never- 
theless, when the. child came to ask for pennies, 
Marx gave her pennies ; when the wife came to ask 
for pounds, he gave her pounds; and when the 
delegates came for advice, he gave them advice. 
Each one received what he asked. But, when Engels 
came, Marx gave himself entirely over to him, be- 
cause the aims and purposes of Engels fully co- 1 
incided with the aims and purposes of Marx. Both 
aimed after one and the same thing: the complete 
emancipation of the working class and the thorough 
regeneration of the human race. And, hence, when I 
Engels came both felt that their life's aim then I 
found a full realization and completion in eachl 
other, and then books, pens, papers, and all other I 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 127 

things were irrelevant. There was but one thing: 
completely to fuse their souls and thoughts into a 
perfect unity. 

The same relation exists between man and Na- 
ture. The aim of Nature — if she has any definite 
aim — must be infinite in its nature and scope, re- 
quiring infinite time, infinite space, infinite energy 
and infinite means for the realization of that aim. 
But the aim of man is limited in its nature and 
scope. Therefore, these two aims cannot coincide. 
Nevertheless, since man is the child of Nature, the 
latter is always ready to give to man what he asks. 
In the beginning, when man was yet but a little 
child, needing food and some playthings whereby to 
excercise and develop his faculties, Nature freely 
supplied him food and the means to satisfy his 
childish desires. Later on, when man grew up to 
the age of youth, needing, in addition to the neces- 
saries of life, some substantial things to satisfy his 
desires and to stimulate his mental and moral 
powers, Nature gave him the understanding and 
the means, which enabled him to build cities, tem- 
ples, ships, cultivate the languages and to lay the 
foundation for the arts, the industries and civiliza- 
tion. When man attained to the age of manhood, 
requiring knowledge and power over the conditions 



128 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

of existence, Nature opened up for him her secrets 
and revealed to him her treasures. Then man ex- 
plored the earth, brought to light the powers of 
Nature, made wonderful devices for the production 
and the distribution of the necessaries of life, and 
extended his sway over existence. 

Nevertheless, though man made great progress, 
he has not reached yet the heights of Nature. As 
compared to Nature, man bears to her the same 
relationship that the delegates bore to Marx. Even 
now man is still content with small things, such as 
bits of the earth's surface, stocks, bonds, small 
pieces of property and the like. And as long as 
man is still content with these small and limited 
things, his aim in existence is far behind the aim 
of Nature; and these aims cannot coincide with 
each other. But, when man will rise to the heights 
of Nature, when man will realize that he has before 
him an infinite world with infinite possibilities and 
that he can have this infinite world but for the ask- 
ing, then man will ask for this infinite world and 
then, also, Nature will give it to him, for it is but 
his rightful inheritance. Man will then be satisfied 
with nothing less than an eternal and infinite exist- 
ence. Man will then transcend himself: he will 
become a superman. He will emerge from the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 129 

category of man — a being limited in nature and 
capacities, and will attain to the state of the super- 
man — a being commensurate with Nature. Then 
the aim of man and the aim of Nature will coincide. 
And then, also, Nature will be only too willing to 
abandon herself entirely to the services of man; 
for then Nature will find her full realization and 
completeness in man. "Ask, and it shall be given 
you." This is the rule of Nature. Man, therefore, 
of his own accord must start, regulate and control 
the material reactions between himself and Nature. 
Must determine for himself what Nature shall give 
him, for Nature has the power and the means to sat- 
isfy all his desires, and Nature is but waiting to 
serve man. 

We see, then, that what appeared at first para- 
doxical and strange is perfectly rational and true. 
Nature is infinite and man is finite. Yet, in the 
material reactions between man and Nature, it is 
man that must start, regulate and control that re-, 
action. Man must wake up to the realization of 
the truth that he must make his own history to suit 
himself: Nature will not make that history for 
him. 

But, man cannot use Nature arbitrarily: He 
cannot make her react upon him as he might arbi- 



130 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

trarily decide. Nature is not a perfect blank, 
upon which man can write what he pleases. 
Nature has a character of her own — a character 
that springs from her nature. And, in the material 
reaction between man and Nature, man must reckon 
with this character of Nature. Man, therefore, can 
use Nature for his own purposes only as Nature can 
be used: in accordance with her ways and in ac- 
cordance with the duration of time. Every step in 
evolution, every process of development, requires 
time. It is for this reason that we call Marx's phi- 
losophy the historical materialism: it is a philos- 
ophy that takes cognizance of the historical order 
of Nature. The saying — Natura non facit Saltum 
— must be borne constantly in mind. The doctrine 
of Evolution is but an attempt to show Nature's 
work during time. Man, therefore, cannot take 
thought and arbitrarily add a cubit to his physical, 
mental or moral stature. Man can bring about an 
advancement in himself only through the instru- 
mentality of Nature and this he can achieve only 
in accordance with the historical development of 
the material reactions between himself and Nature. 
From the beginning of time man needed travel- 
ing facilities to travel over land and sea in search 
of food and shelter. Nevertheless, it took him 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 131 

thousands of years to tame animals and to harness 
them for that purpose. It took him several thou- 
sand of years longer until he learned to harness 
steam and electricity for the same purpose. And 
this development of the means for traveling pur- 
poses could proceed but gradually. It required 
thousands of years for the material reactions be- 
tween man and Nature to develop to such extent 
that man might be able to use modern railroads and 
steamships to travel over land and sea. Thou- 
sands of years ago modern machinery was an im- 
possibility; and this, not only because the ancients 
were not sufficiently enlightened in the natural sci- 
ences, but also because there was wanting the 
historical background for the use of modern ma- 
chinery. If the Aristotles of the ancient times had 
known the sciences as we know them today, they 
could not have made any practical use of them, 
because society was not yet prepared for the use 
of modern machinery. In the first place, the social 
conditions of life did not require modern machin- 
ery. In the second place there was wanting the 
technical skill for the construction and manipula- 
tion of modern machinery. On the other hand, we 
now enjoy the wonderful machinery of today, not 
because we are mental giants and wonderful ex- 



132 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

perts, but because the past generations prepared for 
us the material conditions for the use of modern 
machinery, handed over to us their accumulated 
knowledge and experience, and bequeathed to us 
the acquired skill to produce and use machinery. 
We now stand upon the foundation of a long pro- 
cess of development of the material reactions be- 
tween man and Nature — a development that re- 
quired hundreds of thousands of years. 

And that which was up till now, will also con- 
tinue in the future. Mankind will rise higher and 
higher in the plane of existence because in his con- 
stant endeavor to attain to a rational and satisfac- 
tory existence, he will seek and find ever more 
effective means to use the material reaction between 
himself and Nature for purposes entirely his own. 
In this sense we can truly say: Men make their 
own history. Their destiny lies entirely in their 
own hands. Men make their own history, but they 
do not make it out of the whole cloth. They do not 
make their own history out of conditions chosen by 
themselves, for they cannot arbitrarily choose con- 
ditions to suit themselves. But they can make their 
own history out of the conditions found close at 
hand and the conditions that are handed down to 
them by the past. For, at any given time, both man 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 133 

and Nature are the product of the past and their 
material reaction at any time reflects but the resul- 
tant of their past evolutions. Man, as well as Na- 
ture, is an historic product. He comes into exis- 
tence with all the accumulated experiences of the 
race. He is therefore no more a blank than Nature 
is. 

But, while both man and Nature participate in 
their material reaction, we must always bear in 
mind that it is man that starts, regulates and con- 
trols that material reaction. Man is the natura na- 
turans, and Nature is the natura naturata. But, 
man does not come into existence armed with full 
power to control Nature: that power he acquires 
but gradually. At first entirely dependent upon 
Nature, like a child upon its mother, man gradual- 
ly develops his native powers, which he uses to free 
himself from the sway of Nature. This has gone 
on for a long time, And now he is about to attain 
to the height of Nature and to become her equal. 
When this will be accomplished, Nature will min- 
ister to his needs and purposes to the full extent of 
her powers, for then her aim and his aim will be- 
come one. This idea was well expressed by Engels 
in his essay: Socialism — Utopian and Scientific: — 
"Active social forces work exactly like natural 



134 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

forces: blindly, forcibly, destructively, so long as 
we do not understand and reckon with them. But, 
when once we understand them, when once we grasp 
their action, their direction, their effects, it depends 
only upon ourselves to subject them more and more 
to our own will, and by means of them to reach 
our own ends. And this holds quite true of the 
mighty productive forces today. As long as we 
obstinately refuse to understand the nature and the 
character of these social means of action — and this 
understanding goes against the grain of the capi- 
talist mode of production and its defenders — so 
long these forces work in spite of us, in opposition 
to us, so long they master us, as we have shown 
above in detail. 

"But when once their nature is understood, they 
can, in the hands of the producers working to- 
gether, be transformed from master demons into 
willing servants. The difference is that between the 
destructive forces of electricity in the lightning of 
the storm, an electricity under command in the 
telegraph and the voltaic arc; the difference be- 
tween a conflagration, and fire working in the serv- 
ice of man. 

"With the seizing of the means of production by 
society, production of commodities is done away 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 135 

with, and, simultaneously, the mastery of the pro- 
duct over the producer. Anarchy in social pro- 
duction is replaced by systematic, definite organi- 
zation. The struggle for individual existence dis- 
appears. Then for the first time, man, in a certain 
sense is finally marked off from the rest of the ani- 
pial kingdom, and emerges from mere animal con- 
ditions of existence into really human ones. The 
whole sphere of the conditions of life which en- 
viron man, and which have hitherto ruled man, now 
come under the dominion and control of man, who 
for the first time becomes the real, conscious lord 
of Nature, because he has now become master of 
his own social organization. The laws of his own 
social action, hitherto standing face to face with 
man as laws of Nature foreign to and dominating 
him, will then be used with full understanding, and 
so mastered by him. Man's own social organiza- 
tion, hitherto confronting him as a necessity im- 
posed upon him by Nature and history, now be- 
comes the result of his own free action. The ex- 
traneous objective forces that have hitherto gov- 
erned history, pass under control of man himself. 
Only from that time will man himself, more and 
more consciously, make his own history — only from 
that time will the social causes set in movement by 



136 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

him have, in the main and in constantly growing 
measures, the results intended by him. It is the 
ascent of man from the kingdom of necessity to 
the kingdom of freedom." 

The same idea was expressed by Marx in volume 
III of Capital, chapter 48: "The realm of freedom 
(from natural necessity) does not commence until 
the point is passed where labor under the compul- 
sion of necessity and of external utility is required. 
In the very nature of things it lies beyond the 
sphere of material production in the strict meaning 
of the term. Just as the savage must wrestle with 
nature, in order to satisfy his wants, in order to 
maintain his life and reproduce it, so civilized man 
has to do it, and he must do it in all forms of society 
under all possible modes of production. With his 
development the realm of natural necessity ex- 
pands, because his wants increase; but at the same 
time the forces of production increase, by which 
these wants are satisfied. The freedom in this field 
cannot consist of anything else but of the fact that 
socialized man, the associated producers, regulate 
their interchange with nature rationally, bring it 
under their common control, instead of being ruled 
by it as by some blind power that they accomplish 
their task with the least expenditure of energy and 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 137 

under conditions most adequate to their human na- 
ture and most worthy of it. But it always remains a 
realm of necessity. Beyond it begins that develop- 
ment of human power, which is its own end, the 
true realm of freedom, which, however, can flour- 
ish only upon that realm of necessity as its basis. 
The shortening of the working day is its funda- 
mental premise." 

In other words, the realm of freedom is based 
upon and indissolubly bound up with the realm of 
material necessity. No matter how high the plane 
of existence that man will attain, he will always be 
bound up with the material means of life. There- 
fore, as in the past, so in the future man will have 
to make his own history through and by the means 
of the material reaction between himself and na- 
ture. But, in proportion as he develops his indus- 
trial powers and his social life and his intellectual 
and moral powers in just such proportion does he 
approach ever nearer to the apex of the pyramid of 
Nature and attains ever more the power to deter- 
mine the course of his own history. The whole 
history of man, therefore, is his passing from na- 
tura naturata to natura naturans. Through his 
mental and moral development man rises ever 
higher in the scale of existence and attains to an 



138 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

ever clearer self-consciousness and ever greater 
freedom. 

But, that man may pass to an ever higher mental 
and moral development, he must strive constantly 
and energetically to attain to a more efficient and 
more comprehensive use of the means of Nature; 
and, that he may strive after such use, he must be 
urged on by an inner desire after an enlightened 
and satisfactory existence; otherwise, he will not 
bestir himself to change and to improve the ma- 
terial conditions of existence. That man may erect 
a beautiful edifice, he must first raise in his imag- 
ination the picture of that edifice and then use the 
proper means and methods for its erection. Hence, 
in order that man may make a rational use of the 
material conditions of existence and constantly 
exert himself to change and improve the world, he 
must, not only be urged on by a desire to improve 
the material conditions of his existence, but also 
he must have a picture in his imagination of the 
ideal state of existence which he wishes to attain. 
In other words, man must have an ideal after which 
to strive. This requires careful consideration. 



CHAPTER IX. 

~% /TEN can make their own history and perpetual- 
--▼ A ly pass to higher perfection only in propor- 
tion as they change and improve the material condi- 
tions of their existence. But, that men may strive 
after higher perfection, they must first perceive 
that higher perfection; or, in the words of Marx, 
that men may erect a beautiful edifice, they must 
first raise in their imagination a picture of that 
edifice, and then use the proper means for its erec- 
tion. Now, while it is true that the greatest archi- 
tect of antiquity could not have erected say, a 
Woolworth building, even if he had raised it in his 
imagination, because the proper means for its erec- 
tion were wanting, it is also true that a Zulu of 
today, with all the modern means at his disposal, 
would not even think of erecting such a building. 
Men make their own history according to the ideas 
they have and the means at their disposal; both of 
which, however, are the result of a long historic 
process of interaction between them and Nature. 
An Aristotle under primitive conditions of exis- 
tence could not at once convert those conditions into 

139 



140 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

those fit for a life of the civilized. On the other 
hand, a fool under the best conditions of existence 
will make but a foolish use of them. Hence, that 
men may make a rational use of the conditions of 
existence and constantly exert themselves to change 
and improve those conditions, they must not only 
be urged on by a desire to improve the conditions 
of existence, but also they must have a picture in 
their imagination of the ideal state of existence to 
which they would want to attain. The rational of 
it will be found in the following. 

When man is summoned into existence, he brings 
with himself a will to live and a body endowed 
potentially with the capacities to serve and gratify 
that will to live. The will to live is primordial and 
universal in its nature, is anterior to and inde- 
pendent of the material conditions of existence. 
On the other hand, the body is concrete and limited 
in its nature, is posterior to and dependent upon 
the material conditions of existence. The material 
conditions themselves are limited and determined. 
And, since the will has to operate through a limited 
body and amidst conditions of existence that are 
limited and determined in their nature, in opera- 
tion the will is limited and determined. Hence, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 141 

says Schopenhauer, the will in esse is free, but in 
operari it is determined. 

Since the will is universal and primordial in its 
nature, it cannot be satisfied with the concrete and 
limited body within which it has to reside and the 
determined conditions of existence amidst which 
it has to operate. Hence, as soon as the will is sum- 
moned into material existence, it proceeds to change 
both the body and the conditions of existence. In 
the body it brings out and develops numerous facul- 
ties, among which is also the intellect, and these 
faculties the will uses for the purpose of changing 
the material conditions of existence, so as to afford 
wider and ever more comprehensive scope for the 
activity and the gratification of the will. 

The intellect is like a searchlight, which the will 
uses to dispel the darkness surrounding life, and to 
bring to light the things and the conditions of exis- 
tence. Through the use of the intellect and the con- 
verse with the material conditions of existence, the 
will acquires experience and knowledge, which in 
course of time crystallize themselves into definite 
habits of conduct and modes of thought; and, 
through such knowledge and experience, the will 
learns to distinguish between things that are useful 
to it and things that are harmful to it; and then, 



142 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

in accordance with the acquired habits and the fixed 
notions, the will seeks to appropriate the former 
and to reject the latter. 

Simultaneously with the bringing out of the 
bodily faculties the will proceeds to change and 
improve the conditions of existence and for this 
purpose it uses the bodily faculties, and chiefly 
the intellect. The will projects the intellect, like 
a searchlight, into space and time to bring to light 
the conditions of existence, and to discover the ways 
and the means for the change and the improvement 
to those conditions. As soon as, through the intel- 
lect, the will perceives a new state of life and dis- 
covers the means for its attainment; as soon as the 
intellect makes it clear to the will that the new state 
of life is both desirable and possible of attainment; 
as soon does the will begin to urge the body to exert 
itself to attain the new state of life. And from then 
on the will will not rest until it has attained the new 
state of life. 

But, as said before, the will is universal in its 
nature. Therefore, a given state of life cannot 
satisfy it; for a given state of life must, in its very 
nature, be limited and determined. Hence, as soon 
as the new state of life is attained, the will becomes 
again dissatisfied with the concrete and limited 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 143 

body and the determined conditions of existence. 
It therefore again projects the intellect into space 
and time to discover new and more improved ways 
of life and the means for their attainment. And, 
when through the intellect the will discovers such 
new ways of life and the means for their attain- 
ment, it again urges the body to exert itself to attain 
the new state of life. And, when this is attained, 
the will again becomes dissatisfied, and again re- 
news its efforts to find still more improved ways of 
life, and so on ad infinitum. 

Now, before the will will urge the body to exert 
itself to attain new ways of life and to change the 
conditions of existence, it is necessary that the will 
through the intellect perceive the new state of life 
and the possibility of its attainment: otherwise, 
though the will may be very much dissatisfied, and 
the body may greatly suffer, yet, for want of the 
knowledge of the new state of life and the means 
for its attainment, the will may continue in a state 
of helpless suffering. Hence, the picture of a new 
and more desirable state of life must firstly be 
perceived by the will. This picture of a new state 
of life, which the will perceives and which it begins 
to desire, constitutes for the time being our ideal. 
Therefore, men must firstly have an ideal, before 



144 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

they will exert themselves to change and improve 
their conditions of existence. Without an ideal, 
men will continue, like beasts of burden, to plod 
away their weary life, never bestirring themselves 
to change and improve their conditions of existence. 
Again, the attainment of a new and higher state 
of life is possible only through the overcoming of 
the limitations of the body and the resistance of the 
determined conditions of existence : and this entails 
on us great hardship and suffering. In our struggle 
for a better state of life, it is not enough that the 
will is illumined by the intellect, it must also be sus- 
tained and strengthened in the struggle by another 
power: otherwise, though the will may, through 
the intellect, perceive the most beautiful ideal, and 
most ardently desire to attain that ideal, yet, for 
want of sustaining strength and courage, it will 
not attain the ideal. Therefore, in addition to the 
intellectual faculty, the will also brings out a moral 
faculty — a faculty to endure hardship, to bear suf- 
fering, and to remain steadfast in its effort to attain 
the ideal. This faculty is faith. Faith is not a pas- 
sive faculty for mere belief. On the contrary, faith 
is an active power of the will. Faith, as St. Paul 
tells us, is the substance of things hoped for, the 
evidence of things not seen. A veil of darkness 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 145 

usually enshrouds us, obscuring our vision, and 
overwhelming us with fear of the untried and the 
future. But faith lifts up that veil of darkness, 
showing us the bright future in the making. By 
this we are assured of the realization of the things 
hoped for. Faith enables us to remove mountains 
of difficulties, and encourages us to persist in our 
struggle for a better world, despite universal op- 
position and disappointment. Faith enables us to 
identify ourselves with our ideal to such extent as 
to seem to us a present living reality. One that 
has faith cannot anymore doubt the successful out- 
come of the struggle for the ideal. 

Faith, like any other faculty, grows and strength- 
ens with exercise; and, through frequent trials and 
experiences, it becomes powerful enough to over- 
come all obstacles, to bring choas into order and to 
realize the ideal. When men have an ideal, and at 
the same time are inspired by faith, they can pa- 
tiently bear all hardship and suffering, and cheer- 
fully work for their ideal, firmly convinced that the 
future belongs to them and to their ideal. Both 
the intellect and faith are brought out by the will, 
as being both essential to our happiness. In our 
endeavor to attain a higher and ever higher state 
of life, we need the intellect to give us light and 



146 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

knowledge, and we need faith to give us strength 
and confidence. In making our own history, and in 
making it in an ever more efficient and improved 
manner, we must have an ideal; and, in our ef- 
forts to attain our ideal, we must have faith. With- 
out an ideal we will degenerate to the level of the 
beast; and without faith, they will not attain their 
ideal. The ideal must be begotten of the union 
of the intellect with faith. The ideal must be sub- 
lime in its nature and universal in its scope, so as 
to afford unlimited scope for the universal will to 
gratify its universal nature. Only such ideal can 
adequately inspire men and afford them gratifica- 
tion even while strugling for the attainment of 
that ideal. 

Now, an ideal is not merely a picture of the 
present state of life: it is rather a picture of a future 
state of life — a state of life after which men strive. 
And the question arises: How is that ideal deter- 
mined? The answer is this: Though the ideal is 
a picture of a future state of life, yet it is deter- 
mined by the present conditions of existence. This 
requires consideration. 

In his Social Statics, Spencer tells us: "The 
standard of happiness is infinitely variable. In all 
ages, among every people, by each class, do we 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 147 

find different notions of it entertained. To the 
wandering gypsy a home is tiresome; whilst a Swiss 
is miserable without one. The heaven of the He- 
brew is a city of gold and precious stones, with 
a supernatural abundance of corn and wine; that 
of a Turk — a harem peopled by houries; that of 
the American Indian — a happy hunting ground. 
In the Norse paradise there were to be daily battles, 
with magical healing of wounds; while the Aus- 
tralian hopes that after death he shall jump up a 
white fellow, and have plenty of sixpence. De- 
scending to individual instances, we find Louis XV 
interpreting 'greatest happiness 9 to mean — making 
of locks; instead of which his successor read — mak- 
ing empires. To a miserly Elews the hoarding of 
gold was the only enjoyment of life; but Day, the 
philanthropic author of 'Stanford and Merton,' 
could find no pleasurable enjoyment save in its dis- 
tribution. The ambitions of the tradesman and the 
artist are anything but alike ; and could we compare 
the air-castles of the ploughman and the philos- 
opher, we could find them of widely different 
styles of architecture." 

We see, then, that each person has his own pecu- 
liar ideal, and so each class has its peculiar ideal. 
The ideal future of each but reflects the present 



148 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

condition of his life. Each strives after such an 
ideal state of existence as he conceives to be the 
best for him; and each pictures that ideal state 
according to his present mode of life. Since men 
must have an ideal, before they will exert them- 
selves to change and improve the conditions of ex- 
istence; since that change entails great hardship 
and suffering and is possible only through the com- 
bined efforts of all; and since, furthermore, men 
differ widely from one another in their ideals; the 
question arises: What will unite mankind upon a 
common ideal, so that they may unite their powers 
and exert themselves to attain that common ideal? 
The answer to this question is involved in the con- 
sideration of the Class-Struggle. In the Commun- 
ist Manifesto we are told, — the history of all hither- 
to existing society is but the history of class-strug- 
gles. Our next step, then, will be the consideration 
of the class-struggles, their nature and import. 



CHAPTER X. 

TT is told in the New Testament that one day, as 
■*■ Jesus was expounding his doctrine to his dis- 
ciples and a multitude of people, teaching man- 
kind the possibility of establishing a kingdom of 
heaven on earth, one of his auditors, a wealthy 
young man, who must have been well impressed 
with the discourse, approached Jesus, saying: Good 
Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have 
eternal life? 

To which Jesus answered: Thou shalt do no mur- 
der, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not 
steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy 
father and they mother: and, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself. 

To this the young man replied: All these things 
have I kept from my youth up : what lack I yet? 

This young Pharisee flattered himself with the 
belief that he had never shed human blood, had 
never stolen anything, had never committed any 
crimes against society or sins against God and that 
he had always loved his neighbor as himself. And 
yet his conscience troubled him; he felt that some- 

149 



150 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

thing was lacking that, in addition to the enjoyment 
of the comforts and the blessings of this earthly 
existence, he might also be entitled to the blessings 
of the hereafter. 

Jesus, believing that he had before him one of 
those rare souls that eternally yearn after the true, 
the good and the beautiful, said: If thou wilt be 
perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to 
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: 
and come and follow me. Come and follow the 
Son of Man who, unlike the foxes that have holes 
and the birds that have nests, has no place where 
to lay his head. Come and follow the Son of Man 
to the poor, the oppressed, the exploited and the 
outraged. Come after me, deny thyself, and take 
up the cross daily, and become one with the un- 
washed and the unkempt, suffer with them, struggle 
with them, hope with them, and together with them 
work for the kingdom of heaven; and then thou 
wilt have eternal life. 

When the young man heard that, he went away 
sorrowful: for he had great possessions. This 
young man, brought up in the doctrines of the 
Bible and the commentaries of the Talmud, who 
believed in God and in the immortality of the soul, 
and who was convinced that God reserved for the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 151 

righteous eternal bliss and supreme happiness, was 
willing to deny God, repudiate religion, forfeit his 
claim to eternal bliss and supreme happiness rather 
than to part with his material possessions during 
his earthly existence. 

When Jesus saw how insincere, shallow and 
lacking in true religion and real faith were those 
who apparently were the best, he himself became 
sorrowful, and, turning to his disciples, said: 
Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly 
enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I 
say unto you, it is easier for a rope to go through 
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter 
the Kingdom of God. 

When the disciples heard it they were exceeding- 
ly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But 
Jesus beheld them, and said unto them: With men 
this is impossible, but wi|:h God all things are pos- 
sible. 

The significance of the foregoing will become 
clear as the theory of the Class-Struggle is pre- 
sented. 

The Class Struggle is that theory of society which 
furnishes to socialists the basis of their belief in 
the inevitability of socialism. It analyzes and ex- 
plains the present state of society; it analyzes and 



152 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

explains the various states through which society 
passed since the dissolution of primitive commun- 
ism; it indicates the states through which society 
must pass that it may develop into a state of social- 
ism; and, finally, it points out the course which 
we must follow, and the means we must use to ex- 
pedite and assure the coming of the state of social- 
ism. Socialism may be latent and potential in the 
material conditions of existence, and yet of itself 
it will not come; it will require the conscious and 
inteligent cooperation of mankind to make itself 
inevitable. Not the material conditions of exis- 
tence, but the determined effort of the working class 
will make socialism inevitable. 

Since the dissolution of primitive communism 
mankind was divided into two antagonistic classes : 
property owners and propertyless. The private and 
exclusive ownership of property affects men in two 
ways. On the one hand, it endows the owner with 
a social power over those that have no property; 
and, on the other hand, it engenders in the owner 
a desire which eventually grows into a passion to 
use that power over the propertyless to oppress and 
exploit them. 

In his Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Banaparte, 
Marx says: "In so far as millions of families live 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 153 

under economic conditions that separate their mode 
pf life, their interests and their culture from those 
of other classes, and that places them in an attitude 
hostile toward the latter, they constitute a class." 
Historically, therefore, the class struggle appears 
in many forms, such as between the class of debtors 
and the class of creditors, between landed proprie- 
tors and the rising bourgeoisie, between the coun- 
try and the city, between an oppressed nation and 
an oppressing nation. But the division of mankind 
into distinct classes is never so clear and their 
struggle against each other never so sharp and bit- 
ter, as that between the property owners and the 
propertyless. The class struggle is essentially a 
struggle for the possession of the limited means of 
life. And, as the course of social evolution until 
now has been towards a splitting up of mankind in- 
to property owners and propertyless, capitalists and 
proletarians, we must take the class struggle be- 
tween the property owners and the propertyless as 
the type; all other forms of the struggle that ap- 
peared in history were but modified forms of the 
class struggle we are about to consider. 

The division of mankind into property owners 
and propertyless gave rise to a fundamental an- 
tagonism between them. On the one hand, it was 



154 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

always in the interest of the property owners ever 
to increase their property possessions and there- 
with also their social power over the propertyless, 
so as to be able the more effectively to exploit and 
oppress them and the more securely to establish 
their supremacy over the propertyless. On the 
other hand, it was always in the interest of the 
propertyless to overthrow the social power of the 
property owners by destroying their private and 
exclusive possessions of property, so as to be able 
to free themselves from a state of exploitation and 
oppression. This economic antagonism manifested 
itself in a manifold, continuous and all compre- 
hensive struggle between the property owners and 
the propertyless — a struggle that like a weft ran 
through the warp of human history — a struggle 
which at times appeared on the surface of social 
Jife in the forms of revolutions and social up- 
heavals, but which was mostly carried on under- 
neath the surface of observation in a grim and de- 
termined manner. The history of mankind, there- 
fore, is but the history of their struggles with one 
another. When viewed from this point of view, 
history presents itself as two parallel streams of 
human efforts: one stream comprehending the in- 
terests and the aims of the property owners, and 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 155 

the other stream comprehending the interests and 
the aims of the propertyless. Let us carefully 
examine the distinctive characteristics of these two 
mutually antagonistic streams of human interests 
and efforts and their effects upon mankind. 

To the property owners of all times, the condi- 
tions of existence as they found them always 
seemed advantageous and satisfactory. It, there- 
fore, always lay in their interest to preserve and 
perpetuate the conditions of existence as they found 
them and it was against their interests to permit 
any change in those conditions; for a change might 
unsettle things, disturb the established relations be- 
tween themselves and the propertyless, and prob- 
ably bring the former down and the latter up. 
Hence, throughout history, the owning class, on the 
one hand, endeavored to preserve and perpetuate 
the conditions of existence as they found them ; and, 
on the other hand, they struggled against any 
change and improvement in those conditions. And 
the owning class of today, true to their economic 
interests, endeavor to preserve and perpetuate the 
conditions of existence as they are, and with might 
and main resist any attempt on the part of the 
propertyless to change those conditions. 

On the other hand, to the propertyless of all 



156 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

times the conditions of existence as they found 
them were always disadvantageous and brought 
them only poverty, misery, exploitation, oppres- 
sion and suffering. It, therefore, always lay in 
their interest to overthrow the conditions of exist- 
ence as they found them, and to inaugurate some 
change and improvement in those conditions. 
Hence, throughout history the propertyless, on the 
one hand, struggled to overthrow the conditions of 
existence as they found them and, on the other 
hand, endeavored to establish another and better 
order under those conditions. And the property- 
less of today, true to their economic interests, strug- 
gle now to overthrow the present order of society 
based upon the private and exclusive ownership of 
all the means of life by the few privileged, and en- 
deavor to establish in its stead a new and better 
order of society. 

This, then, brings us to the consideration of sev- 
eral important elements of far-reaching conse- 
quences. rr H' j 

First. — Mankind started its upward march in 
progress and civilization from a very low state of 
existence — a state of existence akin to that of the 
beast — a state of existence characterized by brutal 
struggles, fierce and uncompromising selfishness, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 157 

individualism and anti-sociality. And since the 
property owners always endeavored to preserve and 
perpetuate the conditions of existence as they found 
them, the property owners, in fact, endeavored to 
preserve and perpetuate brutality, selfishness, in- 
dividualism and anti-sociality. Whatever of these 
anti-social traits and elements prevails now in 
society and plagues mankind was brought over 
from the most primitive times by the generations of 
property owners and, in harmony with their his- 
toric function, the property owners of today en- 
deavor to preserve and perpetuate a state of society 
based upon competition, motived by fierce selfish- 
ness, sustained by brute force, and characterized 
by struggle, corruption and anti-sociality. 

On the other hand, since the propertyless always 
struggled against the conditions of existence as they 
found them and always endeavored to change and 
improve conditions, they had to struggle and, as a 
matter of fact, they did struggle against brutality, 
selfishness and anti-sociality and, at the same time, 
endeavored to establish an order of society that 
would permit and encourage cooperation, humanity 
and pro-sociality. Hence, all historic movements 
for the amelioration of the conditions of existence 
and the moral uplift and the improvement of the 



158 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

character of the human race originated within the 
propertyless and by them were carried on forward, 
bequeathing to posterity the crystallized results of 
their struggles and their endeavors. The property- 
less of today, performing their historic function, 
are the only ones that in truth and in fact, on the 
one hand, struggle against the causes of all anti- 
social elements, and, on the other hand, exert them- 
selves to establish an order of society based upon 
cooperation, humanity and pro-sociality. 

Second. — The property owners, as already 
stated, always endeavored to preserve and perpet- 
uate the conditions of existence as they found them. 
In the very nature of things, their struggle was an 
easy one. They always had on their side the exist- 
ing government, the established church, the consti- 
tuted laws, the privileged among the cultured, the 
traditions of the ages and, above all, the natural 
inertia of society, the tendency to persist in the 
existing order of things, the unwillingness to change 
or submit to a change, which might entail suffering. 
And since, furthermore, the property owners were 
by virtue of their property possessions clothed with 
a social power over the propertyless, by means of 
which they could easily procure the services of the 
government, the church, the law, the cultured, as 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 159 

well as the degenerate outcasts of society, the prop- 
erty owners were never compelled by the conditions 
of existence to unite their efforts and to consolidate 
their interests and to fight for a common cause. 
Individually and singly they could, in most cases, 
fight successfully their battles against the property- 
less. Thus, when an emergency arose, necessitat- 
ing cooperation among the property owners, they 
united their forces only to meet that emergency. 
But, once that emergency passed, the need for fur- 
ther cooperation also passed. And since the prop- 
erty owners always had it in their interests to pre- 
serve and perpetuate selfishness, individualism and 
competition, they returned to them with the passing 
need for cooperation. Hence, it came to pass that 
the property owners never built up any permanent 
and comprehensive union or organization in so- 
ciety. A striking modern illustration is furnished 
by the hallowed League of Nations, which, even 
while Wilson is still president of the United States, 
is already disintegrating and decaying. 

On the other hand, the struggle of the property- 
less was always infinitely hard. On the one hand, 
not possessing any property, they individually and 
singly had neither social power nor the means 
whereby social power could be procured. On the 



160 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

other hand, in every struggle with the property 
owners, the propertyless found arrayed against 
them the government, the church, the law, the cul- 
tured, the traditions of the ages, and, above all, the 
natural inertia of society. Their struggle was still 
more painfully aggravated by the fact, that they 
were compelled to exert themselves to inaugurate 
new and untried changes in society, whose nature 
and the possibility of the realization of which were 
most uncertain. All this made their struggle in- 
finitely harder than the struggle of the property- 
less. Hence, while the property owners, as stated 
before, could carry on their struggles singly, the 
propertyless learned from bitter experience this 
very significant lesson: Unless they united their 
efforts, consolidated their interests and struggled 
together for the realization of a common aim, their 
struggle was absolutely hopeless. Not only could 
they not singly and individually accomplish any- 
thing for themselves of a temporary nature, but 
they could not even start a struggle. The property- 
less, therefore, nollens volens, had to unite and they 
did unite their efforts, and made their cause a com- 
mon cause for all of their group or class. This 
gave rise to the following far-reaching conse- 
quences. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 161 

Third. — Since in their struggles against the prop- 
erty owners, the propertyless had to unite their 
efforts, consolidate their interests, and fight for a 
common cause, they could not, in their struggles, 
take cognizance of the claims and the interests of 
the individual; they could concern themselves only 
with the claims and the interests of the group, the 
organization or the class. Therefore, they had to 
subordinate the claims and the interests of the 
individual to the claims and the interests of the 
aggregate. And by this they laid the foundation 
for pro-sociality — an element that revolutionized 
human nature and developed in mankind the capa- 
city and the willingness to subordinate individual 
claims and interests to the claims and the interests 
of society. At first, this pro-sociality was vague 
and limited, extending to but a few elements in 
social life and comprehending and reaching only a 
limited number of individuals. But in time and 
with the progress of the propertyless this pro- 
sociality became ever more definite and compre- 
hensive, until today in the case of the Communists 
— the most enlightened and advanced of the prop- 
ertyless — pro-sociality attained a definiteness and 
universality extending to all elements of social life 
and comprehending the whole human race. 



162 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

Fourth. — The propertyless always struggled 
against an existing system, and always endeavored 
to establish a new and better one. The existing 
order of society brought them poverty, exploitation, 
oppression and suffering, while the new order 
promised to bring them some betterment in the 
future. Hence, the struggle of the propertyless 
always was against an unbearable pnesent and for 
a promising future. By this the propertyless laid 
the foundation for the second element in human 
life, namely, the capacity and willingness to sub- 
ordinate the present to the future, to relinquish the 
present temporary wellbeing for the sake of a more 
lasting wellbeing in the future. At first this ele- 
ment manifested itself in a vague and imited man- 
ner, extending to but a few matters and reaching 
but a limited future — a month, a year, or a decade. 
But in time and with the progress of the property- 
less this element became ever more extensive and 
protensive, until today, in the case of the Com- 
munists, this element attains a definiteness and 
universality comprehending all matters of social 
life and extending to all future time. 

Now while, on the one hand, the property own- 
ers struggle each for himself and without any 
definite and comprehensive aim, the propertyless, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 163 

on the other hand, struggle unitedly and with a 
definite and universally comprehensive aim in 
view. While the property owners are concerned 
only about the immediate present, because they 
have no future, the propertyless are primarily con- 
cerned about the future, because they have no pres- 
ent. And, while the former have no ideal after 
which to strive, the latter have both the ideal after 
which they strive and the faith in the successful 
outcome of the struggle. The propertyless, there- 
fore, are the only ones that can and will make the 
future history of the human race. No one can 
serve both the present and the future, for this is 
serving both Mammon and God. "No man, having 
put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit 
for the kingdom of heaven." Only he can work for 
the kingdom of heaven, who has no interest in the 
present, and who therefore will not hesitate to de- 
story the present that he may be free to build 
the future. 

To sum up the foregoing: Mankind started its 
career at a very low state of existence — a state of 
existence hardly worth preserving. Nevertheless, 
the property owners always endeavored to preserve 
and perpetuate such state of existence. And if the 
property owners had the upper hand in the making 



164 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

of human history, the human race would have re- 
mained in the same state in which they were in the 
beginning. Like the wife of Lot, always looking 
back, and always anxious to preserve things in 
statu quo, they, as well as everything in human 
life under their control, would have become fixed, 
petrified and fossilized and human society would 
have become but a duplication of the society of 
ants or of bees. But, fortunately for mankind, 
the propertyless, driven by necessity, were com- 
pelled^ to think of some change and improvement 
in the conditions of existence, and to exert them- 
selves to bring about that change and improve- 
ment. The propertyless were the first ones that felt 
the need and perceived the possibility for change 
and improvement. At first, their conception of the 
possibility to change and improve the conditions of 
existence was very limited. But in time their con- 
ception widened and heightened, until in the mind 
of the great pioneers of the propertyless it attained 
to a universal scope and sublime height and the 
idea of a kingdom of heaven on earth was born. 

Not only were the propertyless the only ones that 
conceived the idea of the possibility of such king- 
dom of heaven, they were also the only ones that 
really desired, and could desire, the establishment 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 165 

of such a kingdom, and the only ones that in truth 
and in fact were ready, able and willing to struggle 
and suffer for the realization of that kingdom. 
The rich could neither conceive such kingdom nor 
could they work for it. Their property possessions 
were an insurmountable obstacle in their way. 
Hence, "Verily I say unto you, that a rich man 
shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven; 
for it is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a 
needle than for a rich man to enter into the king- 
dom of God." To enter this kingdom, one must 
leave this world behind him, he must part with his 
property possessions, perfectly identify himself 
with the sons of men, the proletarians, be one of 
them, suffer with them, work with them, struggle 
with them, hope with them, and only then will he 
Ibecome fit to enter the kingdom of heaven. To 
follow the redeemers of the human race, one must 
take up the cross daily, completely deny himself, 
and entirely merge his individuality, his aims and 
hopes in the proletariat, its aims and hopes. One 
must let the dead past bury its dead, that he may 
become part of the living. One must sever all 
relations with the property owners, that he may 
identify himself with the proletariat; he must cut 
himself away completely from the existing order, 



166 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

that he may work for the coming order. Only by 
becoming one of the proletariat, the class to whom 
the living future belongs, can one secure to himself 
the living future. 

"He that comes to be purified is helped from 
heaven/ 9 is a Talmudic saying of great significance. 
The propertyless, driven by necessity, cooperated 
for a common purpose. This necessity required 
them to subordinate their individual interests to the 
interests of the aggregate, and the present to the 
future. This subordination laid the foundation for 
pro-sociality and idealism — the two elements that 
enabled man to rise above the beast. But, while 
the propertyless were driven by necessity, and 
against their own will, to cooperate with one an- 
other, Heaven, so to say, came to their assistance in 
their work, as a result of which far greater benefits 
accrued to the human race than could be antici- 
pated. 

Marx credits Hegel with the discovery of the law, 
that mere qualitative differences beyond a certain 
point pass into qualitative changes. This law has 
been shown to be true in the whole realm of phe- 
nomena. For particulars concerning this law, one 
should consult the chapter on Cooperation in vol- 
ume one of "Capital," and EngePs "Landmarks of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 167 

Scientific Socialism," chapter VII. Marx makes 
use of this law, showing that from cooperation two 
important results follow. One, that "when the 
laborer cooperates systematically with others, he 
strips off the fetters of his individuality, and de- 
velops the capabilities of his species"; and the 
other, that "by means of cooperation, a new power 
is created, namely, the collective power of masses." 
This power transcends the sum of the individual 
powers of the cooperating individuals, not only 
quantitatively but also qualitatively. The collec- 
tivity brings out, not only a greater, but also a 
superior power — a power that enables the collec- 
tivity to achieve results which the individuals work- 
ing separately could never achieve. 

This law is true, not only in the case of physical 
work, but also in the case of mental, moral and 
social work. A hundred individuals cooperating 
mentally will produce a result far greater than and 
superior to the result which the same individuals 
can produce working separately. By fusing to- 
gether their individual minds they bring out a 
collective mind — a mind that is greater, superior, 
and more comprehensive than their individual 
minds severally are. The same is true of spiritual 
and social work. In cooperation each individual 



168 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

identifies himself with the collectivity, that is, with 
a greater, superior and more comprehensive power. 
He is then compelled to rub off the limitations of 
his individuality, bring out the capabilities of his 
species and pass to higher competency and perfec- 
tion. So that, not only does cooperation bring out 
greater and better results, but also the cooperating 
individuals themselves emerge from that coopera- 
tion better and more competent persons. A few 
illustrations are necessary. 

We enjoy a meal much more when taken in com- 
pany of many friends than when taken in isolation. 
One may hear in isolation a good opera, a sublime 
symphony, or an eloquent oration, and not enjoy 
a tithe as much as when one listens together with 
thousands of other human beings. In the latter 
case, the fused consciousness of the thousands 
brings out a grander and superior consciousness, 
quantitatively fuller and qualitatively superior. 
Each one present feels that superior consciousness 
and his enjoyment is then greater. Not only are the 
auditors benefited by becoming part of the greater 
and superior consciousness of the collectivity, but 
also the artists are benefited. No artist for himself 
can perform so well and bring out such powers as 
he can before a great audience. No orator in isola- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 169 

tion can rise to such heights of thought and sub- 
limity of expression as he can when speaking to 
thousands. And so it is in all cases. 

But the most wonderful confirmation of this 
truth is to be found in the case of proletarian revo- 
lutions. If we examine the history of the human 
race, we shall find that the regeneration of man- 
kind, the crystallization of great moral truths, and 
the inauguration of human and rational changes in 
social life, were all brought about by the prole- 
tarian revolutions and by the results which those 
revolutions bequeathed to subsequent generations. 
We shall consider a few cases. 

Take the case of the Jews and Judaism. No mat- 
ter what one may say against the Jews, it is certain 
that mentally they are not inferior to any of the 
modern nations, and morally they are superior to 
all other nations. If one doubts this statement, 
let me tell him that, until another nation brings out 
a Moses, a Jesus, a Spinoza and a Marx, no one 
will be heard to dispute this statement. Likewise 
is the case with Judaism. No matter what one 
may think about religion generally, he will have to 
admit, if he knows anything about the various re- 
ligions, that Judaism is the most rational, the most 
humane, and the most free from superstition, than 



170 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MAPtX 

any religion that the human race produced. Only 
Judaism and among Jews could bring out a Jesus 
and a St. Paul. 

Now, both the Jews and Judaism were born out 
of the revolution of the Jewish proletarians against 
their masters. And, though since those days a very 
long time has passed — a time that saw the rise and 
fall of many mighty empires, the birth and death 
of many nations, and the reconstruction of the 
whole world — a time during which both the Jews 
and Judaism have suffered a good deal from wear 
and tear, and the destructive work of vandals; 
nevertheless, the Jews still retain their pristine 
vigor and their revolutionary spirit and traditions, 
and Judaism is still in the foreground for its 
rational and humane character. 

Again, take the case of Christianity. One may 
be an atheist; one may hate religion; nevertheless, 
everyone cannot help perceive that Christianity is 
an ideal religion embodying a sublime conception 
of the universal brotherhood of man — a religion 
which can realize itself only in a state of Commun- 
ism. Now, Christianity is the child of a great pro- 
letarian struggle against their oppressors. Chris- 
tianity was born among the Jews, bathed in the 
spirit of Judaism, baptized in the blood of the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 171 

struggling proletarians, and sustained by the heroic 
martyrdom of the early Christians. And, though 
Christianity is now corroded and moss-covered, 
none the less the essence of Christianity is still 
sublime. 

Likewise, a good deal may be said in favor of 
the Great French Revolution. It is true this was 
but a bourgeois revolution. To the extent that the 
rising bourgeoisie asserted itself in that revolution, 
it left as a legacy only Capitalism. But in that 
revolution the rising proletariat also asserted it- 
self, though in an inconspicuous manner and the 
result of the proletarian struggle is felt even now. 
By virtue of the proletarians exerting themselves to 
use that revolution to change and improve the con- 
ditions of existence, the results have been most 
wonderful. It brought out light, truth and good- 
ness that benefited the whole human race. 

But, the most wonderful revolution that the pro- 
letariat ever raised against the oppressors and ex- 
ploiters is the Russian Revolution. This is the 
most marvellous and sublime achievement of the 
human race. All past revolutions pale into insig- 
nificance beside the Russian Revolution. In extent, 
nature and effect it transcends all other revolutions 
known to history. It is impossible for us, standing 



172 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

so near to this collossal event, clearly to perceive it 
in all its grandeur and extent, or adequately to 
appreciate its nature and consequences. 

It seems to be a universal law of nature that any 
of her manifestations on a large scale can be per- 
ceived and appreciated only when viewed from a 
distance. For instance, the report of a volcanic 
erruption, though distinctly heard by persons 
standing hundreds of miles away from the volcano, 
is not heard at all by people standing near it. This 
is true of the Russian Revolution. The Russian 
Revolution is an event of so great a nature, and in 
its consequences will be so fundamental and uni- 
versal, that it will take generations of historians 
and philosophers clearly to perceive the grand out- 
lines of its nature and adequately appreciate its 
effects upon the life and the future evolution of 
the human race. This revolution is unprecedented 
in history, and therefore in its consequences it will 
be unparalleled. It seems that mankind until now 
was yet in a state of boyhood, and only in the Rus- 
sian Revolution did mankind attain to manhood. 

Now, when we ask the question— what enabled 
the Russians for instance to accomplish this mar- 
vellous work, we shall find the answer to be: they 
accomplished this marvellous work, not because 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 173 

they all of a sudden became gods, beings of a su- 
perior order, but because they, driven by necessity, 
fused their individual powers into one huge collec- 
tivity. By this they brought out a power that tran- 
scended their individual powers infinitely. And, 
while the Russians are merged in this transcendent 
power, changing the world wonderfully, they also 
change wonderfully their own nature. Not only 
will the results of the revolution be great, the Rus- 
sians themselves will emerge from this revolution 
great. The future for centuries to come will be led 
by the Russians because, by their heroic effort 
through the greatest cooperation known to history, 
the Russians reached an altitude that it will take 
the other nations centuries to reach. 

At no time do people learn so fast and at no time 
do people rise to such height of idealism as during 
a revolution. The dullest person then perceives 
truths which otherwise he could never perceive. 
The lowest person can respond to the call of hu- 
manity to an extent that at other times would be 
absolutely impossible. And all these are the results 
of cooperation. It was because in their struggles 
against the property owners the propertyless were 
compelled to cooperate with one another that they 
brought out a transcendental power which changed 



174 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

not only the conditions of existence, but also the 
nature of the propertyless. And so in time both 
the conditions of existence and mankind changed 
and improved. During the revolutionary struggle 
human consciousness rises to such heights and as- 
sumes such gigantic proportions that it attracts and 
absorbs the better elements from the other strata 
of society. This was clearly perceived by Marx 
and Engels, and this was also the idea expressed by 
Jesus. 

In the "Communist Manifesto 9 ' we are told: "In 
times when the class-struggle nears the decisive 
hour, the process of dissolution going on within the 
ruling class, in fact within the whole range of old 
society, assumes such violent, glaring character, 
that a small section of the ruling class cuts itself 
adrift, and joins the revolutionary class, the class 
that holds the future in its hands. Just as, there- 
fore, at an earlier period, a section of the nobility 
went over to the bourgeoisie, so now a portion of 
the bourgeoisie goes over to the proletariat, and in 
particular, a portion of the bourgeois ideologists, 
who have raised themselves to the level of compre- 
hending theoretically the historical movements as 
a whole." 

These individuals, who ordinarily would not 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 175 

identify themselves with the proletariat, gladly 
throw themselves into the struggle, and together 
with the proletariat exert themselves to effect the 
desired change. This was in substance the answer 
that Jesus gave to his disciples when they asked 
him "Who then can be saved?" With man indi- 
vidually it is almost impossible that he should 
forsake his material possessions and betake him- 
self to the propertyless and together with them 
work, not only for the future, but also against the 
present, with which he is so firmly bound up. 
According to the ordinary run of things, Moses 
should have remained in the house of Pharaoh, 
enjoying princely honors and pleasures; or Marx 
should have remained with the bourgeoisie, achiev- 
ing material success. But, such is the order of 
things that, when the material conditions of exist- 
ence are ripe for a change, and the proletariat 
manifests a spirit of discontent and a readiness to 
rise against the upholders of the existing order, 
such men are summoned to the front — men, who, 
by virtue of their great gifts and rare opportunities 
for the acquisition of knowledge and experience, 
have attained to great light and deep truth, and 
who, therefore, are most able to lead the struggling 
masses out of darkness into light, and out of bond- 



176 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

age into freedom. "No man, when he hath lighted 
a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it 
under a bed; but setteth it on a candle stick, that 
they which enter may see the light." Those that 
once perceived the light cannot anymore remain in 
darkness, and cannot bear to see others remain in 
darkness. Therefore, these pioneers of thought, 
even if they come from the upper strata of society, 
will not rest until they have aroused mankind to the 
new light and the new truth. 

But the rich are too much absorbed in their 
material affairs, too much engrossed in their pleas- 
ures and in their immediate existence, to have an 
eye for the new light or an ear for the new truth. 
Therefore, the pioneers of light and truth must be- 
take themselves to that class that has neither prop- 
erty possessions nor any interest in the present 
order of society, and which is therefore open to 
receive the new light and to hear the new truth. 
Hence, though from time to time a great man arose 
out of the property owning class, yet he had to go 
to the propertyless for the realization of the great 
truth that he had perceived. Such has been the 
history of mankind in the past, and such it will 
continue to be until the time when the proletariat 
of the world will rise against the property owners 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 177 

of the world, abolish all private and exclusive own- 
ership of the social means of life, and therewith 
remove the basic cause of all struggles for the 
means of life. The salvation of mankind, there- 
fore, will come through the class struggle. Only 
through the class struggle can socialism in all its 
phases be realized. 

And, since the recognition of the historic role 
of the class-struggle is so important, Marx made 
that recognition one of the essential elements of his 
philosophy. The proletariat will succeed in its 
struggle against bourgeoisie only in proportion as 
it recognizes the class-struggle and attains to class- 
consciousness. Once the proletariat recognizes the 
class-struggle, learns to appreciate its historic sig- 
nificance, it will at once endeavor to bring out an 
international cooperation of all the proletarians of 
the world. For, only through an international or- 
ganization, comprehending all proletarians of the 
world, can the proletariat overthrow the power of 
the bourgeoisie, and change the order of society 
from a state of capitalism to a state of socialism — 
a state which will eventually develop into a state 
of Communism. 

Now, when we speak of an international organ- 
ization of the proletariat, we but speak in general 



178 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

terms. It is not enough to know that the proletariat 
must organize itself. We must also know what 
shall be the form of that organization. The form 
of the organization is most essential ; for it depends 
upon our philosophy — whether the proletariat shall 
organize itself politically, industrially, or both, and 
what shall be the relation between these two forms 
of organization, assuming that both are necessary. 
This raises a very difficult and, at the same time, a 
very important question. And to the consideration 
of this question we now betake ourselves. 



CHAPTER XL 

HPHE socialist movement is the most revolution- 
-*- ary movement known to history. And, be- 
cause the socialist movement is most revolutionary, 
it meets with great difficulties and opposition. The 
reason for it is, as stated in the "Communist Mani- 
festo," that all previous historical movements were 
movements of minorities, or in the interests of 
minorities. But the proletarian movement is the 
self-conscious, independent movement of the im- 
mense majority, and in the interests of the immense 
majority. The proletariat, the lowest stratum of 
our present society, cannot stir, cannot raise itself 
f up, without all the superincumbent strata of official 
society being flung up into the air. The working 
class can accomplish its emancipation from all op- 
pression and exploitation only by overthrowing the 
whole existing order of society, which is based 
upon the private and exclusive possession of the 
means of life necessary to the human race. And, 
because the socialist movement threatens to over- 
throw the whole official society, the whole official 
society is opposed to the socialist movement. There- 

179 



180 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

fore, the task whidi the socialist movement has to 
accomplish is immense. 

A task of such immensity and difficulty cannot 
be accomplished with bare hands. Man is a tool- 
making and tool-using being. Mankind rose in 
progress and civilization only by means of the use 
of tools, and to the extent that they used tools. In 
the course of time mankind perfected the tools, and 
brought out the machine. Since then mankind has 
learned to use machines, not only in the industries 
but also in the arts and even in war. Now war 
can be carried on without machines no more than 
^industry can be carried on without machines. A 
nation compelled to meet an enemy on the battle- 
field must at its peril use the most advanced war 
machines; otherwise, it will meet with certain 
defeat. 

That which is true of national struggles is in a 
greater measure true in the class struggles. The 
working class will have to arm itself with the most 
advanced war machines to fight against the ruling 
class, if it is not to be overwhelmingly defeated; 
for, the ruling class will surely use the most ad- 
vanced war machines against the working class. 

In its struggle against the ruling class, the work- 
ing class forged two weapons— an industrial organ- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 181 

ization and a political organization. The use by 
the working class of its industrial organization as a 
weapon in its struggle against the ruling class is 
called industrial action, and a like use of the 
political organization is called political action. 
These organizations, when used separately and 
independently of each other, are but weapons, mere 
fighting tools; and as such can no more be effec- 
tive in modern warfare than mere tools in industrial 
warfare. That the working class may carry on 
effectively its struggles against the ruling class and 
achieve permanent victory, it will have to substitute 
for these mere war weapons modern war machines; 
and this it can do by combining industrial action 
with political action; that is, by the union of its 
industrial organization with its political organiza- 
tion. It is by this union that the working class can 
bring out a most effective and reliable war machine. 

Since the working class will have to produce the 
war machine which it will use in its struggles 
against the ruling class, it is essential that the work- 
ing class be well informed on the nature of a ma- 
chine, so that it may construct it in accordance with 
its true nature. 

What is a machine? Marx describes a machine 
as a mechanism that uses a tool. To understand 



182 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

this description, we must differentiate between a 
tool and a machine. A tool, as described by Marx, 
is a mechanism used by the human hand for the 
performance of work. A machine is a complex 
mechanism that uses the tool for the performance 
of the same work. The essential function of the 
machine is to liberate the tool from the limitations 
of the human hand that used it, so as to give to the 
tool greater power and universal scope. An illus- 
tration is essential. 

Long before we had sewing machines mankind 
used needles for sewing purposes. The needle is a 
simple mechanism used by the human hand. When 
the human hand plies the needle, the work that 
the needle can perform is very limited. At most 
the needle in the human hand can make sixty 
stitches a minute. But the same needle, when used 
by the machine, can make five thousand stitches in 
a minute. The machine is not only a more speedy 
worker, it is also a more efficient worker. The 
machine can harness the forces of nature, and by 
the aid of these forces it can perform gigantic work 
with great speed. This, then, is the essential dif- 
ference between a tool and a machine. The tool is 
used by the human hand, while a machine takes 
away the tool from the human hand and uses it 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 183 

with greater strength and speed. It is this libera- 
tion of the tool from the limitations of the human 
hand that made modern industry possible and 
which placed at human command the infinite forces 
of nature. 

Now that wte know the difference between a tool 
and a machine, it is necessary to distinguish the 
component parts of the machine from one another, 
so that we may discover their relative importance. 
As pointed out by Marx, a machine consists of 
three parts: a motor mechanism, to generate the 
energy to perform the work; a transmitting mechan- 
ism, to transmit the energy from the source of 
generation to the tool; and the tool proper, the 
mechanism that performs the work. 

Consider again the sewing machine. The hu- 
man body is the motor mechanism ; the foot-treadle, 
the belt, the shafts, the wheels, and the gearings, 
are together the transmitting mechanism; and the 
needle is the tool. And, though all parts are nec- 
essary, and they must cooperate with one another, 
they are not equally essential. The human body, 
as a motor mechanism, can be substituted by steam 
or electric power. Likewise, the foot-treadle, the 
belt, the shafts, and the other parts of the trans- 
mitting mechanism, can in part be eliminated en- 



184 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

tirely or be substituted by other devices. But tlie 
needle can neither be eliminated nor substituted by 
any other mechanism. The needle must always re- 
main, for it is the only mechanism in the machine 
that can perform the required work, namely, 
sewing. ■ ij ■ ' ,' : | |j 

Hence, we see that, while all parts are necessary, 
the tool is absolutely indispensable. The tool ex- 
isted before the machine was invented, and will 
remain even after machines will cease. The ma- 
chine was invented only for the sake of the tool, 
that it may perform its work more speedily and 
more effectively. It follows, therefore, that all 
improvements in the machine must be directed 
towards this aim: to make the work of the tool 
most perfect. And, though defects in the motor 
mechanism or the transmitting mechanism can be 
tolerated, a defect in the tool is fatal to the pur- 
pose. If, in our case, the needle is damaged to 
the slightest extent, the work cannot be done, even 
though the machine otherwise remain perfect. On 
the other hand, if all the other parts of the machine 
be even seriously damaged, the work by the needle 
can nevertheless be done, though not so speedily nor 
so effectively. 

This, then, gives us an idea of a machine and of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 185 

the relative importance of its component parts. And 
what is true of the sewing machine is true of all 
kinds of machines. And what is true of the phys- 
ical machines is equally true of social machines. 
If, therefore, the working class is to create for it- 
self a war machine, that machine will have to be 
constructed in accordance with the principle which 
we have just discovered. In accordance with this 
principle, the war machine of the working class 
will have to be constructed in the following man- 
ner. The working class will constitute the motor 
mechanism, the industrial organization, the trans- 
mitting mechanism; and the political organization, 
the tool proper. 

We saw that the tool proper is that part of the 
machine that existed before the machine was in- 
vented. The machine was devised merely to help 
the tool, but the tool does not exist for the sake of 
the machine. Again, we saw that the tool is abso- 
lutely indispensable, while the other parts of the 
machine may be eliminated or substituted by other 
devices. Keeping this in mind, we shall readily 
perceive that all the characteristics of the tool are 
the characteristics of the political organization. 
Let us examine the component parts of our war 
machine in detail. 



K 



186 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

The working class must function as the motor 
mechanism, to furnish the energy, the will and the 
determination to do the work. The working class, 
therefore, cannot be the tool proper. That this 
must be so will also become clear from the consid- 
eration of the place of the working class in history. 
In the lifetime of the human race many revolutions 
took place. Until the nineteenth century, the work- 
ing class as such hardly functioned socially or 
politically. In times of revolutions the working 
class was used by the ruling class as tools of the 
latter, but never as tools for themselves. It was 
the ruling class that furnished the energy, the mo- 
tive, and the direction in all past revolutions. And 
since the energy and the direction of revolutions 
could be furnished by other classes than the work- 
ing class, the latter is not indispensable in revolu- 
tionary work. And, since the working class is not 
indispensable to this work, it cannot be the tool; 
for, the tool, according to the principle of a ma- 
chine, is indispensable. The working class, there- 
fore, can function only as the motor mechanism, to 
supply the energy to perform the work. 

The industrial organization of the working class 
must be used as the transmitting mechanism, to 
transmit the energy from the working class to the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 187 

political organization. The industrial organiza- 
tion cannot be used as the motor mechanism, for it 
cannot generate energy; all it can do is to transmit 
the energy of the working class. Likewise, we shall 
presently see that the industrial organization cannot 
be the tool proper. 

We saw before this that the tool preceded the 
machine. The machine was invented for the pur- 
pose of using the tool. And, while the tool can be 
used without the other parts of the machine, the 
other parts of the machine, without the tool, are 
useless. History shows that mankind used political 
organizations for the purpose of revolutionary 
work long before they even thought of industrial 
organizations. Even the working class, in its 
struggles against its oppressors, used political or- 
ganizations before they learned to use the indus- 
trial organization. This was the case in ancient 
times, and it was equally the case in modern times. 
The Spartacans and the early Christians are exam- 
ples of cases in ancient times. In modern times 
we find the Chartist movement in England prepared 
the way for the English trades-unions; the Socialist 
movement in Germany and in Russia was the pre- 
cursor of the trades-unions in those countries; and 
so it was in all other countries. 



188 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

Now, since the industrial organization followed 
the political organization, and since, furthermore, 
the industrial organization was and could be sub- 
stituted by the political organization, it follows that 
the industrial organization of the working class 
cannot be used for any other purpose than that of a 
transmitting mechanism. 

It remains now to show that the political organ- 
ization of the working class must be used as the tool 
of the war machine. We saw before that the polit- 
ical organization was used by mankind for the pur- 
poses of revolutions from time immemorial, and 
we also saw that even the working class used this 
organization for the same purpose. As this is very 
essential, we shall go into the matter fully. And, 
first, let us hear what De Leon says on this sub- 
ject. In his work, "Two Pages from Roman His- 
tory," he says: 

"Obviously, independent class-conscious political 
action is the head of Labor's lance. Useful as any 
other weapon may be, that weapon is the determin- 
ing factor. Entrenched in the political powers, the 
Capitalist Class commands the field. None but the 
political weapon can dislodge the usurpers and en- 
throne the Working Class; that is to say, emancipate 
the workers and rear the Socialist Republic. And 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 189 

none better are aware of the fact than the Capitalist 
Class, and, consequently, none are more anxious to 
have the Labor forces turned away from the field 
of independent labor political activity. Obviously, 
in the interest of the Working Class is it to arouse 
them to class-conscious political action. What does 
the Labor leader do? From England, westward 
over the United States and Canada to Australia, we 
find the Labor leaders solidly arrayed against the 
very idea. A veritable bulwark of capitalism, they 
seek to turn the political trend of the Labor Move- 
ment into the channels of capitalist politics, where 
the head of Labor's lance, its independent, class- 
conscious political effort, can be safely broken off." 
These ideas expressed by De Leon will find con- 
firmation in the sequel. But, before we proceed, it 
is necessary to remove a possible misconception. 
It may seem that industrial action is here under- 
estimated. We shall presently see that, not only is 
industrial action not underestimated, but, on the 
contrary, is rather held to be more essential than 
political action. But, what we shall presently learn 
is this: For the purposes of the working class it- 
self, the industrial organization is more essential 
than the political organization; but, for the pur- 
poses of effecting a revolution in society, the polit- 



190 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

ical organization is more essential. For this latter 
purpose, the industrial organization can function 
only as a transmitting mechanism, to transmit the 
energy and the character of the working class to 
the political organization but the political organiza- 
tion is the very tool for the performance of the revo- 
lutionary work. An illustration will make it clear. 

The human body is a mechanism consisting of 
several parts that cooperate with one another. That 
the body may exist, it must be supplied with life- 
energy. That energy is supplied by Nature through 
sunshine, food, air, and the like. Nature, there- 
fore, may be regarded as the motor mechanism. In 
the case of the body, the internal organs and the 
limbs are the transmitting mechanism; while the 
intellect is the tool. Nature supplies the energy, 
the limbs and the internal organs receive that en- 
ergy, assimilate it, distribute it to all parts of the 
body; while the intellect performs the work that 
is essentially human. 

Now, to the existence of the human body the 
internal organs and the limbs are infinitely more 
essential than the intellect; for, while the body can 
exist, as known cases have shown, without the in- 
tellect, it cannot exist for a moment without the 
internal organs and the limbs. Nevertheless, for 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 191 

the purpose of guiding and directing the work of 
the body as a whole in its relation to the universe 
and itself, the intellect is infinitely more essen- 
tial. This will clearly appear from the considera- 
tion of the nature of life. Life, as Spencer defines 
it, is a continuous adjustment of inner relations to 
outer relations. The progress of life depends en- 
tirely upon the successful adjustment of living be- 
ings to the conditions of existence. For the purposes 
of this adjustment, the intellect is most essential. 
This is especially true in the case of the human 
race. In the case of man, life seemed to have put 
all emphasis upon the development of his intellect; 
for, while the internal organs and the limbs of the 
human body have remained practically in the same 
state in which they were from the beginning of 
human existence, and in some cases have even de- 
generated, the intellect has all along grown and 
developed. The growth and development of the in- 
tellect has been most essential to human progress. 
We have noted that man is a tool-making and 
tool-using being. Bergson shows us in his "Cre- 
ative Evolution" that the essential function of the 
intellect is to make tools. We also saw that man 
made progress only in proportion as he perfected 
his tools. This perfection in his tools was but the 



192 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

outward manifestation of the perfection of his in- 
tellect. Therefore, it follows that for purposes of 
human progress the intellect is more essential than 
the internal organs and the limbs. 

The same relationship holds between the in- 
dustrial and the political organization of the work- 
ing class. For purposes of mere existence as work- 
ers, and to maintain themselves in a more or less 
bearable state, their industrial organization is 
more essential than their political organization; 
for, while they could very well get along without 
a political organization, they could not even for 
a moment get along without an industrial organ- 
ization. They would then sink to the level of the 
slave or even the beast. In their struggle against 
excessive exploitation and unbearable oppression, 
in their endeavors to maintain themselves upon a 
certain level of human existence, in their desire to 
cultivate among themselves solidarity and class- 
consciousness; and, finally, in preparing them- 
selves for the administration of things in the So- 
cialist Republic; their industrial organization is 
more essential than their political organization. 
But, for the purposes of guiding themselves in their 
efforts to overthrow the present order of society, 
seize the reins of government, attain to the master- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 193 

ship of the social conditions of existence, and com- 
pletely to emancipate themselves from all exploita- 
tion and oppression, their political organization is 
infinitely more essential than their industrial organ- 
ization. For this purpose, their political organiza- 
tion is like the intellect is to the body. 

It is, therefore, clear that no attempt has been 
made here to underestimate the importance of the 
industrial organization to the working class. All 
that has been shown here is the relative importance 
of each organization. For the existence of the 
working class, their industrial organization is most 
'essential; but, for the purposes of doing revolu- 
tionary work, their political organization is most 
essential. The working class machine must have 
all the three parts. The working class itself must 
function as the motor mechanism to furnish the 
energy, for neither the ruling class nor Nature will 
supply that energy to the working class. The eman- 
cipation of the working class must be the work of 
the working class itself. The industrial organiza- 
tion of the working class must function as the trans- 
mitting mechanism, to transmit the energy and the 
character of the working class to its political or- 
ganization. And its political organization must 
function as the tool proper, to perform the revo- 



194 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

lutionary work. When the working class will arm 
itself with such a machine, it will be able to accom- 
plish the desired revolution. 

The foregoing, presented here a priori, requires 
exemplification and corroboration. This will be 
our next step. 



CHAPTER XII. 

T ENIN, in his master work, "The State and Revo- 
*- i lution," told us what ideas Marx and Engels 
entertained concerning the State. It will not, there- 
fore, be necessary to take up this question for 
examination here. The reader is referred to that 
work of Lenin. We shall limit ourselves to a con- 
sideration of politics and political action. 

In the "Communist Manifesto" we are told: 
"Every class struggle is a political struggle. The 
immediate aim of the Communists is the same as 
that of all other proletarian parties: formation of 
the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bour- 
geois supremacy, conquest of political power by 
the proletariat. The first step in the revolution by 
the working class, is to raise the proletariat to the 
position of ruling class, to win the battle of 
democracy. The proletariat will use its political 
supremacy, to wrest, by degrees, all capital from 
the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of 
production in the hands of the State, i. e., of the 
proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to 

195 



196 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

increase the total of productive forces as rapidly 
as possible." 

Again, we are told in the "Communist Mani- 
festo": "Political power, properly so called, is 
merely the organized power of one class for op- 
pressing another. If the proletariat during its 
contests with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the 
force of circumstances, to organize itself as a class, 
if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the 
ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force 
the old conditions of production, then it will, along 
with these conditions have swept away the condi- 
tions for the existence of class antagonisms, and of 
classes generally, and will thereby have abolished 
its own supremacy as a class. In place of the old 
bourgeois society, with its classes and class antag- 
onism, we shall have an association in which the 
free development of each is the condition for the 
free development of all." 

In a few lines the master minds of the socialist 
movement gave us the whole philosophy of politics. 
And the ripened form of this philosophy found its 
completed expression in "The Civil War in France," 
wherein Marx says the Mowing : "The multplic- 
ity of interpretations to which the Commune has 
been subjected, and the multiplicity of interests 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 197 

which construed in their favor, show that it was 
a thoroughly expansive political form, while 
all previous forms of government had been 
emphatically repressive. It was essentially a work- 
ing-class government, the product of the struggle 
of the producing against the appropriating class, 
the political form at last discovered under which to 
work out the economic emancipation of labor. Ex- 
cept on this last condition, the Communal Constitu- 
tion would have been an impossibility and a delu- 
sion. The political rule of the producer cannot 
coexist with the perpetuation of his social slavery. 
The Commune was therefore to serve as a lever for 
uprooting the economic foundations upon which 
rests the existence of classes, and therefore of class 
rule. With labor emancipated, every man becomes 
a workingman, and productive labor ceases to be a 
class attribute." 

It is most significant and challenges marked at- 
tention that the idea which Marx and Engels ex- 
pressed in the "Communist Manifesto" in 1847, 
they express with still greater clearness and cer- 
tainty in "The Civil War in France" in 1871, name- 
ly, that the first step of the proletariat is to rise 
to political supremacy, and then use its political 
supremacy for the purpose of its emancipation and 



198 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

the reconstruction of society. Nowhere is it to be 
found in the works of Marx and Engels that the 
working class is to use its industrial organization 
for this purpose. On the contrary, throughout the 
writings of Marx and Engels we find numerous 
statements to the effect that only through political 
action will the working class succeed to emancipate 
itself. To cite but one instance, in "Value, Price 
and Profit," Marx tells us: 

"As to the limitation of the working day in Eng- 
land, as in all other countries, it has never been 
settled except by legislative interference. With- 
out the working men's continuous pressure from 
without that interference would never have taken 
place. But at all events, the result was not to be 
attained by private settlement between the working 
men and the capitalists. This very necessity of 
general political action affords the proof that in its 
merely economic action capital is the stronger side. 
Trades unions work well as centres of resistance 
against the encroachments of capital. They fail 
partially from an injudicious use of their power. 
They fail generally from limiting themselves to a 
guerilla war against the effects of the existing sys- 
tem, instead of simultaneously trying to change it, 
instead of using their organized forces as a lever 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 199 

for the final emancipation of the working class, that 
is to say the ultimate abolition of the wage system." 

The foregoing ideas must be amplified. Robert- 
son in "The Evolution of States/ 9 tells us: "Poli- 
tics, in its most general and fundamental character, 
is the strife of wills on the ground of social action. 
As international politics is the sum of the strifes 
and compromises of States, so home politics is the 
sum of the strifes and compromises of classes, in- 
terests, factions, sects, theories, in all countries and 
in all ages. In studying it, then, we study the 
evolution of an aggregate, a quasi-organism, in 
terms of the clashing forces of its units and of their 
spontaneous combinations." 

Here, again, we have the idea of Marx that every 
class struggle is a political struggle. And now we 
must go into a deeper examination of the matter. 

The term politics comes from the Greeks, mean- 
ing citizens, city. Any matter that concerns the 
citizen in a city pertains to politics. At first the 
term was limited in scope and significance, as the 
matters that concerned the citizen in the city were 
few and limited in scope. Mankind then lived 
scattered in villages and settlements. Only a small 
portion of the race lived in cities. Most people 
were self-sufficing. Each tilled his own land, culti- 



200 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

vated his own garden, raised his own cattle, dug a 
well on his own farm, and independently of his 
fellow-beings he performed all necessary functions 
of life. Co-operation was limited even in the 
cities proper. At that time there was no state ad- 
ministration of justice, no regular army or navy, 
no state schools, and no other social function of im- 
portance. In time, however, mankind became ever 
more dwellers in cities, which afterwards united 
in states, and they extended their co-operation over 
wider areas, comprehending ever more numerous 
functions of life; until today we find that the whole 
human race is virtually united in one universal co- 
operation. The industrial, the intellectual and the 
spiritual activities of the human race are carried 
on co-operatively all over the face of the earth. 
And with the extension of co-operation, and the con- 
centration in the cities of ever larger numbers of 
people, the matters that concerned them as citizens 
became ever more numerous, and with this the 
term politics became ever more comprehensive; 
until today the term includes all social functions. 
Originally justice, war, education, transportation, 
and such other functions, were performed by each 
individual independently of his fellow-being. Now 
these and numerous other such social functions are 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 201 

carried on by society collectively, and these func- 
tions have now become matters of a political nature. 

In accordance with the law discovered by Hegel, 
that quantitative differences beyond a certain point 
pass into qualitative changes, politics changed 
qualitatively with the quantitative increase in its 
scope. Not only has politics become universally 
extensive, it has also changed its nature. Original- 
ly, politics were used by the ruling class as a means 
to further its own class purposes. Now the working 
class is to use politics as a means to further the 
interests of the human race. Politics now becomes 
something else, something superior to what it was 
before. 

When workingmen organize themselves in a trade 
union, and by their organized effort seek to effect 
some improvement in the conditions of their indus- 
try, their effort is of an industrial and not of a poli- 
tical nature; for, in this" case, they struggle, not as 
citizens, but as carpenters, as tailors, or some other 
kind of workers. And even if all the workers of 
the world should unite in one industrial organiza- 
tion and, by means of organized efforts, should 
seek to bring about some improvement in their in- 
dustries, their struggle would still be an industrial, 
and not a political struggle; for, even in this case, 



202 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

they struggle not as citizens, but as workingmen, 
and they struggle, not for a general change in the 
order of society, but only for some change in their 
industries. Only then when the workingmen rise 
above their industrial interests and unite in a com- 
mon effort to bring about a change in life that will 
benefit them, not merely as carpenters, as masons, 
and the like, but as citizens; only then, when the 
workingmen rise to the dignity of citizens and ex- 
tend their efforts to the whole structure of society 
in all its parts, war, law, education, transportation, 
ownership of the means of life, and the like — only 
then does their struggle assume a political char- 
acter, and only then, also, can their struggle bring 
about a revolution in society. As carpenters, as 
tailors, as masons, they may limit their organiza- 
tions to their respective crafts. But as citizens their 
organization must be one and indivisible, for every 
class struggle is a political struggle. If their 
struggle is a struggle of the whole class, then it 
must become a political struggle, and then they 
must have but one political organization. 

Here again we shall see the reason why the poli- 
tical organization must function as the tool of the 
war machine of the working class. We saw before 
that the internal organs and the limbs of the body 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 203 

are many, while the intellect is but one. Likewise, 
we see now that the industrial organizations may- 
be many, but the political organization must be 
one. For the purposes of guiding and controlling 
the functions of all the organs of the body there 
must be one intellect; otherwise, there could be no 
co-ordination in the functions of the organs. Like- 
wise, the political organization that is to guide and 
control the working classes of all countries must 
be one: otherwise, there can be no co-ordination in 
their efforts. It was for this very fundamental 
reason that the founders of the modern socialist 
movement laid the foundation for an international 
political organization of the working classes. And 
it is for this reason that the Third International 
was organized. 

If space permitted, it would be worth while to 
consider several historic events, exemplifying and 
corroborating the conclusion here reached. But, 
we shall limit ourselves to the consideration of one 
case, namely, the Russian Revolution. 

What was the order of events, and what means 
did the Russian people adopt to effect their marvel- 
lous revolution? In the first place, notice that their 
political revolution preceded their economic revolu- 
tion; and, while their political revolution is com- 



204 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

plete, and carried out with great speed, their eco- 
nomic revolution has scarecely begun, and will not 
be completed within a generation to come. In the 
second place, we find that they used their political 
power to effect economic emancipation, and not 
vice versa. In these respects the Russian revolu- 
tionists followed most literally the program formu- 
lated by Marx and Engels. They rose to the posi- 
ion of ruling class, and then used their political 
supremacy to wrest, by degrees, all capital from 
the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of 
production in the hands of the State, i. e., of the 
proletariat organized as the ruling class, and to 
increase the total of productive forces as rapidly 
as possible. They declared the land to belong to 
the Soviet Republic, nationalized the banks, the 
railroads, the mines, and other social means of 
production. They then enacted a law that all able- 
bodied persons should work, carrying out not only 
a Communistic principle, but also a very good 
Christian rule: "He that would not work, neither 
should he eat." The Russian proletariat used the 
Soviet Republic, a political organization, as a lever 
to uproot the economic foundation upon which rests 
the existence of classes, and therefore of class rule. 
And, because the Russian revolutionists followed 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 205 

literaly the program formulated by the founders of 
modern socialism, they succeeded most wonder- 
fully; while at the same time the Germans, the 
Austrians, the Italians and the English failed most 
miserably in their puny attempts by means of in- 
dustrial action to accomplish any substantial im- 
provement in the conditions of labor. 

To sum up: The working class must create a 
war machine with which to fight its final struggle 
against the ruling class. That machine, like physi- 
cal machines, must consist of three parts: a motor 
mechanism, a transmitting mechanism, and the tool 
proper. The working class must function as the 
motor mechanism, to supply the energy and to give 
a working class character to the work to be per- 
formed. The industrial organization is to function 
as the transmiting mechanism, to transmit the 
energy from the working class to the tool. And the 
political organization is to function as the tool 
proper. Only as thus constituted can the working 
class effect its complete emancipation, the aboli- 
tion of the exclusive possession of the means of 
life, the existence of classes and class struggles, 
and establish a state of society in which the well- 
being and happiness of the one will be conditions 
for the well-being and happiness of all. 



206 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

Concerning the specific manner of using this war 
machine, the reader is again referred to Lenin's 
wonderful work, 'The State and Revolution. 9 ' 
Since Lenin in that work covered the subject most 
thoroughly and presented the truth in most con- 
vincing manner, it is not necessary here to go into 
that matter in detail. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

TTAVING considered the respective roles which 
-*--*- man and Nature play in their material inter- 
actions, and having discovered that only the organ- 
ized proletariat can and will start, regulate and 
control that material interaction in accordance with 
a preconceived ideal, we now come to the final 
phase of the subject — the phase that contemplates 
the respective roles which the proletariat and Na- 
ture will play in the great historic drama, the pend- 
ing transformation of society from the state of capi- 
talism into the state of socialism. This is usually 
misconceived. It will therefore be necessary first 
to dispose of the current misconceptions. These 
misconceptions can be stated as follows: 

It is in the interest of the property owners ever 
to increase their property possessions and, there- 
with, also their power over the producers, so as to 
be able to reduce the latter to a state of dependence, 
and thereby to be able the more effectively to ex- 
ploit and oppress them. Accordingly, the property 
owners of all times endeavored, on the one hand, 
to expropriate the producers, to deprive the latter 

207 



208 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

of the means of life; and, on the other hand, to 
appropriate these means and use them for their 
own exclusive benefit. But at no time before did 
the owning class accomplish as much as since the 
inauguration of the capitalist era. That which be- 
fore the property owners could not accomplish in 
thousands of years, since then they have accom- 
plished in the course of but a few centuries, name- 
ly, the complete expropriation of the producing 
class of all means of production and distribution. 
As the wealth of society constantly increased and 
accumulated — all of which has been appropriated 
by the capitalist class — the latter gradually came 
into possession of an amount of wealth never before 
dreamt of by mankind. And, so long as there were 
yet farmers that owned the land which they culti- 
vated, and artisans that owned the tools which they 
used, so long did the capitalist class direct its ef- 
forts against the producers, to expropriate them of 
both the land and the tools of production. But, 
when the capitalists completely appropriated all 
the land and the tools of production, and reduced 
the producers of all wealth to the state of proletar- 
ians, then the capitalists, driven by the imanent laws 
of the capitalist mode of production and distribu- 
tion, directed the struggle for the exclusive pos- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 209 

session of the means of life against one another. 
One capitalist endeavored to kill another. The 
less fortunate ones of the capitalists were killed in 
the struggle, and were thrown down into the ranks 
of the proletarians, and the more fortunate ones of 
the capitalists rose still higher in wealth and in 
power. With the increase of their wealth also in- 
creased their power, which they used ever more for 
the purposes of a more thorough exploitation of the 
working class and of a more thorough removal of 
all obstacles from competing capitalists. And, 
though the number of proletarians steadily in- 
creased and the number of capitalist magnates re- 
latively diminished, nevertheless the power of the 
latter over the former continued to increase. The 
relation of the property owners to the propertyless 
is comparable with one holding the long arm of the 
lever to the one that holds its short arm. The capi- 
talists hold the long arm, while the proletarians 
hold the short arm of the lever. With the increase 
of social wealth and its accumulation in the hands 
of the capitalists, their arm became ever longer, 
and the arm in the hands of the proletarians became 
relatively ever shorter. And, hence, even if there 
be but one capitalist to a million proletarians, the 
former, by virtue of the long arm under his control. 



210 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

will be able to overcome the latter and oppress 
them. 

With the increase and accumulation of wealth, 
the capitalist class comes into ever greater power, 
which power it uses to spread and intensify the 
capitalist mode of production and distribution for 
its own exclusive benefit. The capitalists bend 
their energies to increase the rate of exploitation 
and to augment their profits. Their greed for 
profit, their lust for power, their thirst for base 
pleasures, all increase in volume and intensify in 
their nature; until they become in them the domi- 
nant and all-consuming passions. The capitalists 
become ever more arrogant, despotic and domineer- 
ing. All this brings upon the proletarians ever 
greater hardship, misery and suffering. This will 
continue until such time as the lot of the proletar- 
ians will be rendered absolutely unbearable. Then 
the proletariat will rise against the capitalist class, 
will abolish the private and exclusive ownership of 
the means of life, convert the whole land and all 
social means of production and distribution into 
social property, to be owned, controlled and used 
by all members of society collectively, destroy the 
basis of class-division of society, the class struggles 
and anti-social consequences, and will establish the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 211 

state of society based upon the co-operative owner- 
ship, management and use of all means of life. 

This conception, though in form correct, in sub- 
stance is fundamentally wrong. To expose the 
errors, and to bring out the truth, it will be neces- 
sary to analyze this conception into its component 
parts, and consider them most carefully. When 
we shall have done this, we shall find that this con- 
ception resolves itself into the following four as- 
sumptions: 

First. The tendency of the capitalist mode of 
production and distribution is to concentrate all 
social wealth into the hands of ever fewer capi- 
talists, who, by reason of their increased social 
power will be able to retain that ever-increasing 
wealth in their hands indefinitely; 

Second. The concentration of all social wealth 
in the hands of the capitalists, giving them ever 
greater power over the working class, will result 
to the latter in ever greater hardship, misery and 
suffering; 

Third. This will continue only until such time 
as the working class can bear it; but, when the 
latter will not be able any longer to endure it, as 
such time must come, then they will rise against the 
capitalist class and overthrow capitalism; 



212 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

Fourth. When the working class has overthrown 
capitalism, it will at once betake itself to establish 
the state of socialism — a state in which all members 
of society will of their own accord and in perfect 
harmony with one another carry on all productive 
and distribute activities necessary for the well-being 
and happiness of the human race. 

Plausible as these assumptions seem on their 
face, and supported, as they seem to be, by the doc- 
trines of Marx, a close examination of these as- 
sumptions will show that, in the main, they are 
false in substance, because they are contrary to the 
facts and nature of life, and not in harmony with 
the doctrines of Marx. As this presents a task of 
no small magnitude, we shall have to proceed care- 
fully and methodically. We shall, therefore, 
examine these assumptions, first separately and in 
the inverse order here stated, and then we shall 
consider them together in the order here stated. 
We shall then obtain a different view of the great 
historic drama in which the proletariat will play 
the leading part. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ri^HE fourth assumption is based upon the belief 
-*- that men are inherently virtuous, inclined to 
do what is right and to feel kindly disposed towards 
one another. From the beginning of time man was 
so; only the bad social forms and the corrupt gov- 
ernments, and especially capitalism made man self- 
ish, cruel and anti-social. Therefore, it is con- 
fidently believed, with the abolition of capitalism, 
mankind will at once, and without any previous 
training and preparation, manifest their true na- 
ture, and will readily betake themselves to estab- 
lish the state of socialism. 

A rational interpretation of the facts of life and 
an intimate knowledge of human nature contradict 
this belief. Man, no more than other living beings, 
is endowed by Nature with a fixed and predeter- 
mined character. On the contrary man, like the 
other beings, could be but what under the various 
conditions of existence he could make himself to 
be. But throughout all past time, including even 
the time of primitive communism, the conditions 
of existence were such as to make it necessary for 

213 



214 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

human beings to struggle with one another for the 
limited means of life. In their struggle with one 
another, they had to resort to cunning, deception, 
and anti-social methods. In the course of the 
thousands of years of life necessitating fierce 
struggles with one another, mankind retained traits 
of character and habits entirely inconsistent with 
the pro-social state which socialism contemplates. 
And these traits and habits have become so organic 
with man that, by merely taking thought he cannot 
change his nature. Such deep-seated traits and 
organic habits can be overcome and in their stead 
established traits and habits favoring pro-sociality, 
only through persistent training and adequate pre- 
paration. 

Now, if men, who by character and habits are 
still largely anti-social, were to be driven by un- 
bearable anti-social conditions to rise against their 
cruel oppressors, is it likely that such men will at 
once find themselves fit for the pro-social state of 
socialism, and actually desire such state? Men, 
who have just emerged from a cruel anti-sociality 
and who themselves have retained the anti-social 
traits and habits, cannot at once become pro-social, 
so that they should find themselves fit for socialism 
and actually desire it. It is true, as already 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 215 

pointed out, that the proletariat crystallizes out of 
its revolutionary efforts great mental and moral 
treasures. This fact led some sociologists and his- 
torians, like Kropotkin, to ascribe native goodness 
and inherent virtue to the individual proletarians 
as they are. But this is a mistake. Individually, 
the proletarians cannot be much better than the 
hard, cruel anti-social conditions permit them to be. 
Only when, as in the time of a proletarian revo- 
lution, the proletarians unite their efforts and fuse 
together their mind and soul, does the proletariat 
bring out a social mind and a social soul, which are 
far more comprehensive and superior than their 
several individual minds and souls. It is this social 
consciousness that brings out the great truths and 
the sublime ideals. And the individual proletarians, 
by virtue of their contact with the social mind and 
soul, become better beings than they were before 
the revolution. Nevertheless, the improvement in 
the mind and soul of the proletarians cannot be so 
great and fundamental as to leave them for all 
times to come in that improved state, without addi- 
tional effort and constant vigilance on the part of 
the proletarians themselves. It therefore usually 
happened that after the revolution was over the 
proletarians relapsed, if not to the level of their 



216 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

state before the revolution, to a state not much 
higher. 

Now, the state of socialism is not a thing of air. 
It is possible only through the fulfillment of cer- 
tain essential requirements of life. Mankind will 
have to divide the functions of life and assign to 
each group of individuals definite social functions. 
The land will have to be cultivated, the mines will 
have to be worked, the necessaries of life will have 
to be produced, and the means of transportation 
will have to be manipulated. All of these func- 
tions will have to be carried on in a rational man- 
ner and in accordance with a preconcerted plan. 
This plan will have to be carried out by the mem- 
bers of society, not as the blind obedience of wage- 
slaves, but as the voluntary cooperation of free 
members of society. How can such plan of social 
life be carried out by men that are still largely 
anti-social in character and habits, without any pre- 
vious preparation and training? 

To say that the working people want socialism, 
and that they would of their own accord betake 
themselves to this state, if only they emancipate 
themselves from the yoke of their exploiters, is to 
close one's eyes to the facts of life. It is true the 
working class, as a class, more readily than any 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 217 

other class of society, can be taught to want social- 
ism. It is also true that the class-conscious portion 
of the working class want socialism and are more 
or less prepared for that state. But that the state 
of socialism may be established permanently, all 
of the working class must both want socialism and 
be prepared for it. Such is not the case. The great 
mass of the working people are not even sufficiently 
class-conscious. Among them there are many who, 
though class-conscious, are anarchists, individual- 
ists, and by nature anti-social and therefore are un- 
fit for the state of socialism. And, as a matter of 
fact these workers are as much opposed to socialism 
as the capitalists are. 

We must not deceive ourselves. Though in the 
course of time mankind gradually prepared them- 
selves and the material conditions of existence for 
a higher life, yet they and the material conditions 
are far from the state of socialism and though it is 
equally true that through intelligent and conscious 
effort mankind can expedite and direct to their own 
benefit the process that will transform society from 
a state of capitalism into a state of socialism, yet 
mankind cannot all of a sudden, and without ade- 
quate preparation, emerge from a state of indi- 
vidualism and competition and enter into a state of 



218 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

pro-sociality and cooperation. Is it not clear that, 
though the working class may be driven by unbear- 
able oppression and suffering to rise in revolt 
against their oppressors, yet in the end they may 
fail to realize socialism? Is it not also clear that 
the belief in the inherent virtues of the proletarians 
is not well-founded, and if this belief is not based 
upon the facts of life, the assumption based upon 
this belief falls to the ground? 

We now come to the third assumption. It is gen- 
erally assumed that, when the oppression and suf- 
fering of the proletariat will become unbearable, 
it will rise against the capitalist class, and continue 
in its struggle until it completely destroys the power 
of the ruling class. This assumption is based upon 
the belief that there are fixed limits to human en- 
durance, and that, therefore, when those limits are 
reached, the oppressed must and will rise in revolt 
against their oppressors, and will not let up until 
they have attained their complete emancipation. 
And, hence, it is confidently hoped that the time 
is not far off when, driven by unbearable suffering, 
the proletariat will rise in revolt against the ruling 
class, destroy its power, abolish capitalism and 
establish socialism. We shall presently see that 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 219 

this assumption is no more valid than the fourth 
assumption which we have disposed of. 

The facts of life show that Nature does not in 
advance fix and determine the form, the nature and 
the habits of living beings; but that all these are 
determined by the perpetual endeavor of the living 
beings to make the best of the conditions of exist- 
ence. Therefore, when the conditions of existence 
require a change either in the form, the nature or 
the habits of life, the living beings will submit to 
the necessary change rather than perish. Life, as 
we already saw, is a continuous adjustment of in- 
ner relations to outer relations. The adjustment 
may be fast or slow, it may be painful or not, but 
it must take place. The essence of every living 
being is an irresistible will to live and, for the sake 
of its continued existence, it will sacrifice every- 
thing, short of the very existence itself. Science 
abounds in illustrations, showing the extent to 
which living beings will go to adjust themselves to 
the conditions of life. A few illustrations will 
suffice. 

The whales, like most cetaceans, were formerly 
terrestrial mammals, and are still mammals. But 
the conditions of existence must have required a 
change of life, from a terrestrial to an aquatic ex- 



220 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

istence; and what was the result? A complete 
change of form, structure and habits of life. They 
assumed a form, and adjusted themselves to a mode 
of existence appropriate to beings millions of years 
behind them in evolution. But they did bring them- 
selves into the changed state, and now seem to be 
perfectly satisfied with it. 

Darwin tells us that the animals which inhabit 
the caves of Carniola and of Kentucky are blind. 
"In some of the crabs the footstalk for the eye re- 
mains, though the eye is gone — the stand for the 
telescope is there, though the telescope with its 
gasses has been lost. As it is difficult to imagine 
that eyes, though useless, could be in any way 
injurious to animals living in darkness, their loss 
may be attributed to disuse." And what Darwin 
tells us of these creatures, the works on natural 
history abound in. Every reader can satisfy him- 
self by studying these works, that there is prac- 
tically no limit to the extent to which living beings 
will submit to change in order to continue their 
existence. And that which is true of living beings 
generally we shall find to be equally true of man- 
kind. 

We already saw that Nature does not in advance 
fix and determine the nature of man. He is now 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 221 

what in the course of evolution, living amidst de- 
termined conditions of existence, he could make of 
himself. When the conditions of existence per- 
mitted him to attain to a state of freedom and 
power, he attained to such virtues as corresponded 
with freedom and power. But, on the other hand, 
when the conditions of existence deprived him both 
of freedom and of power, he meekly submitted to a 
state of slavery and oppression. Perhaps, here 
and there an individual, disdaining the life of a 
slave, committed suicide or accepted death as the 
alternative; but mankind never hesitated, it always 
submitted to the conditions of existence. It is 
necessary, for the sake of illustration, to consider 
a few cases. 

In his "Principles of Psychology,' 9 Spencer tells 
us of the slave: "Assuming him to be tolerably 
well treated, the slave has the amount of freedom 
required for satisfying his desires as well as most 
of the poorer members of the human race satisfy 
them; and generally he has not to put out effort so 
great as that which the free man puts out. Only by 
representation of those activities and those suc- 
cesses which complete freedom would make pos- 
sible, but which slavery prevents, is he made aware 



222 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

of the evil he suffers. A considerable reach of 
representative power is needful for anything like 
a vivid consciousness of this evil; and hence the 
fact shown us by the less developed human races, 
that if the physical comforts are secured and the 
treatment is mild, slavery is borne with equanimity. 
Only when there exists that higher power of repre- 
sentation common to the more developed races, do 
we meet with the sullen discontent and estlessness 
caused by the consciousness of remote benefits that 
are forbidden and of remote ills that may have to 
be borne. Only then does the love of freedom 
reach that highly representative form in which 
imaginations of the distant and the indirect evils of 
restraint constitute the promptings to rebel; and 
in which the consciousness of having no one to hin- 
der any activities that may be desired, constitutes 
delight in liberty." 

Again, in his "Principles of Ethics," Spencer 
says: "If the life usually led under given social 
conditions is such that suffering is daily inflicted, 
or is daily displayed by associates, sympathy can- 
not grow: to assume growth of it is to assume that 
the constitution will modify itself in such a way as 
to increase its pains and therefore depress its en- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 223 

fergies; and is to ignore the truth that bearing any 
kind of pain gradually produces insensibility to 
that pain, or callousness." 

These citations, which might be multiplied in- 
definitely, show that man's nature is but what he 
was able to make it under the conditions of exist- 
ence. When the conditions of existence make it 
necessary for him to submit to daily abuse, exploi- 
tation and slavery, he will gradually adapt himself 
to those conditions, and in due time he will become 
so habituated to them that of his own accord he 
would neither be able to rise above those conditions 
nor would he even want to rise above them. To 
refer to a previous expression, he would then be- 
come part of natura naturata, of the passive nature, 
and therefore helpless. Numerous cases are known 
of prisoners who, after a long period of confine- 
ment, have become so adjusted to prison life that 
they could not any more bear the life out of prison. 
Indeed, the history of mankind is but the history 
of their bearing most patiently all sorts of oppres- 
sion and exploitation. 

In his "History of Civilization in England," 
Buckle tells us: "In India, as in every other coun- 
try, poverty provoked contempt, and wealth pro- 



224 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

duced power. When other things are equal, it must 
be with classes of men as with individuals, that the 
richer they are, the greater the influence they will 
possess. It was therefore to be expected, that the 
unequal distribution of wealth should cause an 
unequal distribution of power; and as there is no 
instance on record of any class possessing power 
without abusing it, we may easily understand how 
it was that the people of India, condemned to pov- 
erty by the physical laws of their climate, should 
have fallen into a degradation from which they 
have never been able to escape. A few instances 
may be given in illustration of the principle which 
the preceding arguments have, I trust, placed be- 
yond possibility of dispute. 

"To the great body of the Indian people the 
name of Sudras is given; and the native laws re- 
specting them contain some minute and curious 
provisions. If a member of this despised class pre- 
sumed to occupy the same seat as his superiors, he 
was either to be exiled or to suffer a painful and 
ignominious punishment. If he spoke of them 
with contempt, his mouth was to be burned; if he 
actually insulted them, his tongue was to be slit; 
if he molested a Brahmin, he was to be put to 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 225 

death; if he sat on the same carpet with a Brahmin, 
he was to be maimed for life; if, moved by the 
desire of instruction, he even listened to the read- 
ing of the sacred books, burning oil was to be 
poured into his ears; if, however, he committed 
them to memory, he was to be killed; if he were 
guilty of crime, the punishment for it was greater 
than that inflicted on his superiors; but, if he him- 
self were murdered, the penalty was the same as 
for killing a dog, a cat, or a crow. Should he 
marry his daughter to a Brahmin, no retribution 
that could be exacted in this world was sufficient. 
It was therefore announced that the Brahmin must 
go to hell, for having suffered contamination from 
a woman immeasurably his inferior. Indeed, it 
was ordered that the mere name of a laborer should 
be expressive of contempt, so that his proper stand- 
ing might be immediately known. And, lest this 
should not be enough to maintain the subordina- 
tion of society, a law was actually made forbidding 
any laborers to accumulate wealth; while another 
clause declared, that even though his master should 
give him freedom, he would in reality still be a 
slave; for, says the lawgiver, of a state which is 
natural to him, by whom could he be divested? 



226 THE PHILOSOPHY. OF MARX 

"By whom, indeed, could he be divested? I 
ween not where that power was by which so vast a 
miracle could be worked. For, in India slavery, 
abject, eternal slavery, was the natural state of the 
great body of people ; it was the state to which they 
were doomed by physical laws utterly impossible 
to resist. Among nations subjected to these condi- 
tions, the people have counted for nothing; they 
have had no voice in the management of the state, 
no control over the wealth their industries created. 
Their only business has been to labor; their only 
duty to obey. Thus there have been generated 
among them those habits of tame and servile sub- 
mission, by which, as we know from history, they 
have always been characterized. For it is an un- 
doubted fact, that their annals furnish no instance 
of their having turned upon their rulers, no war of 
classes, no popular insurrections, not ,even one 
great popular conspiracy. In those rich and fer- 
tile countries there have been many changes, but 
all of them have been from above, and not from 
below." 

Buckle also tells us that the same was true in 
Egypt, Peru and Mexico. And, we may add, the 
same was true in all countries and among all na- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 227 

tions. The cases of the Negroes in the United 
States arid the Serfs in Russia are but two of the 
numerous modern instances. Particularly signifi- 
cant is the case of the Russian serfs, which will 
therefore require some special consideration. But, 
before we do this, the reader's attention must be 
called to the erroneous interpretation which Buckle 
puts upon the facts. According to Buckle, the great 
masses in India, as well as the masses in other 
countries were condemned to poverty and slavery 
by the physical laws of Nature, from the effects of 
which the masses could never escape. This makes 
the division of mankind into classes as the inevit- 
able result of Nature, and not as the result of his- 
tory; that is, it makes Nature responsible for the 
existence of classes, and not mankind. This is a 
false, crudely materialistic interpretation of the 
facts of life. We already saw that in the inter- 
action between man and Nature man is the active 
factor, while Nature is the passive factor. There- 
fore, man was primarily responsible for the state 
of life that he had. Especially is this true of the 
division of mankind into classes. There is nothing 
in Nature that makes that division necessary. If 
Nature supplies mankind bountifully, that should 



228 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

be a reason why mankind should live happily to- 
gether. But it is no reason why one class should 
appropriate the fruit of the labor of another class. 
On this point we must hear Marx. In chapter 16, 
volume one of "Capital/ 9 speaking of the produc- 
tion of Absolute and Relative Surplus Value, 
Marx says the following: 

"Favorable natural conditions alone give us only 
the possibility, never the reality, of surplus-labor; 
nor, consequently, of surplus-value and a surplus- 
product. The result of difference in the natural 
conditions of labor is this: that the same quantity 
of labor satisfies, in different countries, a different 
mass of requirements; consequently, that under 
circumstances in other respect analogous, the neces- 
sary labor-time is different. These conditions 
affect surplus-labor only as natural limits, i.e., by 
fixing the points at which labor for others can be- 
gin. In proportion as industry advances, these 
natural limits recede. In the midst of our Western 
European society, where the laborer purchases the 
right to work for his own livelihood only by paying 
for it in surplus-labor, the idea easily takes root 
that it is an inherent quality of human labor to fur- 
nish a surplus product. But consider, for example, 



The philosophy of marx 229 

an inhabitant of the eastern islands of the Asiatic 
Archipelago, where sago grows wild in the forests. 
When the inhabitants have convinced themselves, 
by boring a hole in the tree, that the pith is ripe, 
the trunk is cut down and divided into several 
pieces; the pith is extracted, mixed with water and 
filtered; it is then quite fit for use as sago. One 
tree commonly yields 300 lbs., and occasionally 
500 to 600 lbs. There, then, people go into the 
forests, and cut bread for themselves, just as with 
us they cut firewood. Suppose, now, such an East- 
ern bread-cutter requires 12 working-hours a week 
for the satisfaction of all his wants. Nature's di- 
rect gift to him is plenty of leisure-time. Before 
he can apply this leisure-time productively for 
himself, a whole series of historical events is re- 
quired; before he spends it in surplus-labor for 
strangers, compulsion is necessary. If capitalist 
production were introduced, the honest fellow 
would perhaps have to work six days a week, in 
order to appropriate to himself the product of one 
working-day. The bounty of Nature does not ex- 
plain why he would then have to work six days a 
week, or why he must furnish five days of surplus- 
labor. It explains only why his necessary labor- 



230 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

time would be limited to one day a week. But in 
no case would his surplus-product arise from the 
occult quality inherent in human labor." 

We see, then, that the physical conditions of the 
country may be the passive conditions for the 
possibility of exploitation and the division of man- 
kind into exploiters and exploited; but the active 
cause of that exploitation and division of mankind 
into antagonistic classes must be sought in human 
history. We already saw how mankind came to be 
divided into property owners and propertyless, and 
the consequences that necessarily followed. With 
this correction of Buckle's interpretation of the 
facts of history, the facts cited by him are true. 
And as such we take them here. 

Now, coming to the case of the Russian serfs, we 
find that their case differed substantially from 
similar cases known to history. The serfs, as a rule, 
were originally free-born Russians. They were 
blood of the blood and flesh of the flesh of the 
Russian nation. When, however, the pressure of 
circumstances forced upon them a state of serfdom, 
they submitted to that state; and in time they lost 
so completely their capacity to resist oppression 
and exploitation, and became so habituated to their 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 231 

jpondition, that, even though they suffered as cruelly 
as slaves ever before suffered, they neither could, 
nor of their own accord would, rise against their 
masters. And, were it not for the great pressure 
brought to bear upon the ruling class by the revo- 
lutionists and the rising tide of liberalism, the 
mass of Russian serfs would probably still have 
continued in the state of serfdom until the Great 
Revolution of 1917 liberated them. And, what 
is most depressing in thinking about it is the fact 
that the oppressed and enslaved in time accepted 
their lot as the best for them, and even prospered 
physically under their conditions of slavery and 
oppression, so that, like the Israelites in Egypt, the 
more they were afflicted, the more they increased 
and multiplied. In the course of three centuries, 
their numbers swelled up to about forty-six mil- 
lions. Think of it! Think of the complacency of 
the Russian serfs, to be able to reconcile themselves 
with their lot and increase to that stupendous 
number! 

Now, if it is true, as it is usually assumed, that 
with the development of capitalism and the con- 
centration of wealth in the hand of relatively few 
magnates, the misery, the degradation and the 



232 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

suffering of the working class will constantly in- 
crease, what hope is there that the oppressed and ex- 
ploited workers will ever rise against their oppress- 
ors? It is true that, if the ruling class should try 
to screw down the vise of exploitation and oppres- 
sion suddenly and to a great depth, the working 
class in countries like the United States, who still 
retain in themselves some self-respect and some 
power of resistance, will rise against the ruling 
class. But, if the vise of exploitation and oppres- 
sion should be screwed down gradually, as in the 
nature of things it will be the case, then the vise 
pan be screwed down to any extent, and the work- 
ing class will not revolt. The histories of Egypt, 
Babylon, Rome, and other countries, show that the 
nations perished from a hopeless degeneration of 
the working class, and yet the working class did 
not revolt. If a revolt took place, it was the result, 
not of the oppression and the degradation of the 
working class, but because that working class was 
aroused and inspired by an ideal, as it was the 
case with the early Christians. But, as Buckle 
tells us of the Sudras, we may say of all sudras 
of all nations, that oppression and exploitation, 
ever so intense and degrading, never aroused the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 233 

oppressed and degraded to revolt against their 
masters. A most striking and convincing case is 
furnished us right here at home. 

Until recently we prided ourselves at being an 
independent and liberty-loving nation. Any at- 
tempt on the part of the Government to interfere 
with the liberties of the people and their property- 
possessions would be resisted by all, the poor as 
well as the rich. Nevertheless, when the war con- 
ditions made it necessary for the Government to 
curtail the traditional liberties of the people, to 
conscript our lives and to confiscate our property, 
that the war against Germany might be successfully 
carried on, the Government made short work of all 
our liberties, possessions and our inalienable rights 
to life, to liberty and to the pursuit of happiness. 
Conscription on a universal scale \fras established, 
universal military training imposed upon all of 
the young, millions of our boys and men were 
drafted against their will, the Government assumed 
control of the railroads, and passed measures plac- 
ing the industries and the commerce of this coun- 
try under the control and supervision of the Gov- 
ernment, and the rights of speech, press and as- 
sembly were curtailed to such extent that we are 
not far from the state of Czarist Russia. And, 



234 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

though we are compelled to submit to restrictions 
and put up with privations that we never thought 
we would bear, nevertheless we do not revolt. This 
is so because the Government proceeded very 
wisely; it introduced all these restrictive measures 
gradually and when the nation was hypnotized into 
believing that it was fighting for democracy. And 
so we have the restrictions, the limitations, the 
burdens, which from day to day become ever more 
difficult to bear, and yet we take them as matters 
of course. 

This being the case, can we hope that the work- 
ing class, driven by an unbearable exploitation and 
oppression, will rise in revolt against the ruling 
class? And, not only rise in revolt, like beasts of 
burden sometimes kick from sheer despair, but 
also to rise class-conscious and determined to over- 
throw the power of the ruling class, and themselves 
take possession of the power of government and 
with determination proceed to establish the state 
of socialism! What historic or natural basis is 
there for this hope? 

The third assumption, upon examination, proves 
to be no more valid than the fourth assumption 
proved to be. Now we. umst proceed to examine, 
the: second assumption*, 



CHAPTER XV. 

rpHE second assumption is that, with the develop- 
-■- ment of capitalism and the concentration of all 
accumulated wealth in the hands of the capitalist 
class, grows the exploitation, the misery, the deg- 
radation and the oppression of the working class. 
Upon this assumption, as we already saw, is based 
the third assumption, that a state will be reached 
which will be unbearable for the working class, and 
that then they will rise against the capitalist class. 
That the third assumption should ever have been 
seriously entertained is proof of the fact that we 
have not yet learned to read the facts of life accu- 
rately. An accurate observation of the facts of 
life would show that just the opposite was the 
effect of the development of capitalism upon the 
^material wellbeing of the working class. The latter 
shared, even though to a very small extent, in the 
benefits that accrued to the human race from the 
'development of industry, the perfecting of the 
machines of production, and the wonderful in- 
crease in. th eproductivity of labor. It would be 

23S 



236 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

an insult to the intelligence of the reader to cite 
facts from history to prove a fact of universal 
knowledge. One need but cast a glance at the 
material conditions of labor in the more developed 
countries with the same conditions of labor in the 
less developed countries to convince himself that, 
with the development of capitalism, the material 
well-being of the working class Constantly im- 
proves. Nay, more than this; if we compare the 
material conditions of the working class fifty years 
ago with the same condition today, we cannot help 
but see that, with the development of capitalism in 
the country, came a decided improvement in the 
material well-being of the working class. The 
workers today enjoy a greater material prosperity 
than they ever enjoyed before. Let one read the 
10th and the 27th chapters in the first volume of 
"Capital," and he will at once convince himself 
that the material conditions of the working class 
of the past centuries would be absolutely impos- 
sible today. In addition let him read the 9th sec- 
tion of the chapter on machinery and modern in- 
dustry. There Marx shows that the factory system 
compelled society to pass factory measures, to 
improve the sanitary conditions of labor, short- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 237 

H'i.h ii^H-l-l i - d'$J : ^- : i 
tening the hours of labor, and making provisions 

for the educational improvement of the working 
class. Marx sums this up in his preface to the first 
volume of "Capital/' by saying: "Where capital- 
ist production is fully naturalized among the Ger- 
mans the conditions of things is much worse than 
in England, because the counterpoise of the Fac- 
tory Acts is wanting." Since the time that Marx 
wrote that preface we have seen the material con- 
ditions of the working class in Germany consider- 
ably improved. Nay, more than this, the Factory 
Acts of Germany even exceeded in their benefits to 
the working class those that had been passed in 
England. And the same is true in the United 
States and other countries. 

Indeed, it would be most marvellous if, with all 
the wonderful achievements of the human race in 
science, art and industry, not a particle thereof 
fell to the lot of the working class! Now, in the 
face of these undoubted facts, how can we base 
our hope for socialism upon the ever-increasing 
misery, degradation and suffering of the working 
class? If, with the development of capitalism the 
material conditions of the working class improve, 
may it not happen that, though the material con- 



238 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MAKJt 

ditions of the capitalists improve infinitely more, 
the working class will find itself more or less tol- 
erably comfortable, so as to feel neither the neces- 
sity nor find the motive to rise against the capitalist 
class and run the risk and danger of a revolution? 
We must always remember that a revolution is not 
merely a game of chess; it is a very serious affair. 
A revolution involves a life and death struggle. 
The participants in a revolutionary struggle must 
be ready to pay with their lives. Before a class of 
oppressed may fell determined to die for a cause, 
there must be very strong motives for such deter- 
mination. The material conditions of the working 
class cannot furnish such motive, because, as we 
^aw, they do not become ever worse than what 
they generally were; and, also, because there are 
no fixed limits to human endurance. 

Take the case of Germany. Before their de- 
feat in the present war, the German people regarded 
itself as the most cultured, the most heroic and the 
most proud. The Germans looked with contempt 
upon such nations as the Russians and the like. 
The whole world actually feared the Germans. 
Yet, with their defeat, came poverty, starvation, 
suffering and humiliation, without a parallel in 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 239 

modern history. Do the Germans rise? Not only 
do they submit to the foreign exploiters and op- 
pressors of the Allied nations, they also submit to 
their own exploiters and oppressors, just risen into 
power. And, though from time to time a resolute 
band of stout revolutionists rose and called the 
masses to revolt, the masses did not respond, and 
the stout-hearted revolutionists expiated with their 
life the sins of the masses. And this, too, at a time 
when the German proletariat could have wonderful 
assistance from the Russians — an assistance that 
would not only enable them to overthrow the yoke 
of foreign oppression and exploitation, but also 
the yoke of their own oppressors and traitors. And 
yet, though so much was to be won, the masses 
humbly submitted and still submit to all this. 
What, then, becomes of the second assumption? 

Finally, we come to the first assumption — the 
assumption that is the basis of the other three as- 
sumptions. The first assumption is that the tend- 
ency of capitalism is to concentrate all accumu- 
lated wealth in the hands of a few magnates, who 
by virtue of their ever-increasing wealth acquire 
an ever-increasing power over the working class, 
which power the capitalist magnates will use ever 



240 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

more effectively to exploit and oppress the work- 
ing class. As this leads, as it were, into a blind 
alley, the working class will have to cut the Gor- 
dian knot, rise against the master class, overthrow 
its power, and abolish the basis for classes and 
class-struggles. 

Before we proceed to examine the first assump- 
tion, the reader's attention must be called to a great 
inconsistency. Those that make the assumptions 
as stated above are, what Marx would call, crude 
materialists; that is, socialists who believe in What 
is called economic determinism. According to this 
belief, man is what the material conditions of ex- 
istance make him to be. Man himself comes into 
existence a perfect blank, and he is what the mate- 
rial conditions write upon his being. Therefore, 
these materialists tell us, socialism is inevitable, 
whether we want it or not, because the material 
conditions of existence inevitably develop towards 
the state of socialism. According to this belief, 
the proletariat has no active function to perform. 
All the proletariat has to do is to keep itself in 
readiness for the time when the material condi- 
tions of existence will tell them, "We are now ripe 
for socialism." That the proletariat has to pre- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 241 

pare itself in advance, and that the proletariat must 
assume an active and controlling role in shaping 
and determining the course of development of the 
material conditions — these are views entirely re- 
pudiated by these materialists. And yet, these 
materialists lead us into a blind alley, and tell us: 
"Hie Rhodus, hie salta : thus far the material con- 
ditions go, and no further; and if you want to go 
further, you must go independently of the material 
conditions of existence." In other words, accord- 
ing to the view of the crude materialists, the ten- 
dency of the capitalist appropriation is to concen- 
trate all wealth and power in the hands of the 
capitalist magnates. That is as far as the material 
conditions go. From thence on all wealth and power 
will remain an eternal heritage of the few capitalist 
magnates. If the expropriated and oppressed will 
want to be free themselves from the exploitation 
and oppression entailed upon them by that eco- 
nomic determinism, they will have to rise above the 
economic determinism, defy the tendency of cap- 
italist appropriation and, in spite of all laws of 
Nature, assert their emancipation. Is not this most 
inconsistent? If the material conditions are every- 



S42 THE PHILOSOPHY OP MARX 

thing and man is nothing, how can men transcend 
the material conditions? 

This inconsistency was inevitable. Once the 
crude materialists assumed that man is nothing, 
and the material conditions were everything, they 
were driven into an impassable inconsistency. But 
this inconsistency reveals also the cause of it. These 
crude materialists who built so strongly and firmly 
upon economic determinism are compelled in the 
hour of danger to abandon their theory and appeal 
to the independent action of the proletariat. This 
cry of the crude materialist speaks volumes. It 
tells us in the clearest manner that man is the active 
factor, while the material conditions of existance 
are but the passive factor. And now, by exposing 
the inconsistency of the crude materialists, we con- 
firm our own position. Having accomplished this, 
we are prepared to proceed with the examination of 
the first assumption. 

Here, when we come to consider the first assump- 
tion, we shall somewhat modify the procedure. 
Instead of considering it separately from the other 
three assumptions, as we proceeded with the latter, 
we shall, on the contrary, consider them all to- 
gether, since the first assumption is really the basis 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 243 

of the other three assumptions. As the argument 
will be somewhat involved and voluminous, it will 
)}e conducive to a ready understanding of the argu- 
ment as it is unfolded, if the reader is at once 
informed what the argument will show. 

In the interaction between man and Nature, man 
is the controlling factor. In the past, the property 
owners, to a considerable extent, controlled that 
interaction and that control gave them a decided 
advantage over the propertyless. The develop- 
ment of capitalism creates an ever increasing mass 
of proletarians, who are brought ever more closely 
together. This gives rise in them to a class-con- 
sciousness and a class ideal. The tendency of the 
capitalist mode of production is but to complete a 
great historic evolution of the human race. Start- 
ing in a communistic form of life on a very small 
scale, mankind had to tear itself away from that 
narrow form of life, so as to spread over the whole 
earth and to conquer Nature. This was possible 
through the dissolution of primitive communism, 
and the spread of private property. Private prop- 
erty for thousands of years was a benefit to man- 
kind. When, however, mankind has conquered 
Nature and covered the whole earth, the process of 
evolution comes to the closing of the cycle. Pri- 



244 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

vate property becomes a hindrance, and therefore 
must be abolished. In its stead mankind reintro- 
duces communism. The tendency of Capitalism is 
just this — to return to society all the land and all 
means of life, to be owned, controlled and used by 
society communistically. At first, capitalism ex- 
propriates the masses, then it expropriates the cap- 
italists themselves. In this process of transforma- 
tion the proletariat functions most actively and 
most determingly. Therefore, in the bringing about 
of this transformation, the proletariat meets with no 
blind alleys. The tendency of capitalism is, not 
to leave all wealth and power in the few capitalists, 
Jmt to take away all property from all individuals 
and turn over that property to society. This is the 
great historic process, and this is the role which 
the proletariat will play in this great drama. 

From this point of view the matter presents itself 
in an entirely different aspect — an aspect that is 
free from the contradictions and errors which we 
met with in the consideration of the assumptions 
before us. 

With this as a preliminary, let us betake our- 
selves to a careful consideration of the great social 
process that will transform society from a state of 
capitalism to a state of socialism. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

TN HIS "Landmarks of Scientific Socialism," 
=t Engels tell us: "All civilized peoples began 
with common property in land. Among all peoples 
which pass beyond a certain primitive stage the 
pommon property in land becomes a fetter upon 
production in the process of agricultural develop- 
ment. It is cast aside, negated, and, after shorter 
or longer intervening periods, is transformed into 
private property. But at a higher stage, through 
the development still further of agriculture, pri- 
vate property becomes in its turn a bar to produc- 
tion, as it is today the case with both large and 
small land proprietorship. The next step, to ne- 
gate it in turn, to transform it into social property, 
necessarily follows. This advance however, does 
not signify the restoration of the old primitive 
common property, but the establishment of a far 
higher, better developed form of communal pro- 
prietorship, which, far from being an impediment 
to production, rather, for the first time is bound 
to put an end to its limitations and to give it the 

245 



246 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

full benefit of modern discoveries in chemistry and 
mechanical inventions." 

This gives us a correct view of the great historic 
process that will transform society from a state of 
capitalism to a state of socialism. Capitalism is 
but a phase in the evolution of property. Originally 
mankind, no more gregarious animals, knew of 
property. In time they learned to recognize prop- 
erty. The first form of property was that of com- 
munism. This form must have continued for a 
long time, and must have prevailed among all races 
of men. A time, however, came when this form of 
property, instead of being a benefit to mankind and 
a help to their further growth and development, 
became rather a hindrance in the way of their 
progress and a detriment to their well-being. It 
threatened to petrify mankind into a fixed social 
form of existence akin to that of the bees and the 
ants. The further growth and progress of mankind 
required a freer scope of activity for the individual, 
that he might bring out his powers, than the primi- 
tive community afforded scope. Communism, 
therefore, became a fetter upon the further develop- 
ment of the human race. It had to be dissolved 
and it was. dissolved.. The progressive elements. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 247 

of the human race then began to struggle for the 
abolition of communistic ownership of property, 
and the establishment of private property. The 
enterprising races left their primitive bee-hives, 
launched out into the free and open world, con- 
quered all opposing elements, and became the mas- 
ters of the world. This continued until private 
property became the dominant and prevailing form 
of ownership in the most civilized countries. A 
time, however, came when private property, instead 
of continuing to be a benefit to mankind and an 
encouragement to individual enterprise, became 
rather a fetter upon the further development of 
mankind and a hindrance in the way of individual 
enterprise. Mankind reached a stage in their de- 
velopment requiring the abolition of private prop- 
erty. The period of the dissolution of private 
property begins with the inauguration of capitalism. 
The historic function of capitalism is, not to 
concentrate the wealth of society in the hands of a 
few capitalists, but to dissolve private property, 
to expropriate mankind of their individual pos- 
sessions, to consolidate all property and to restore 
it back to mankind, to be owned, controlled and 
used by them. in. common*. At first, capitalism, ex- 



248 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

propriates those members of society that offer the 
least resistance, namely, the farmers and the ar- 
tisans. When the farmers are divested of their 
land and the artisans of their tools, then the pro- 
cess of expropriation proceeds to expropriate the 
capitalists themselves. One capitalist kills an- 
other, and thereby the number of property-owners 
becomes ever smaller, until a time will come when 
all property will be taken away from the individ- 
uals and turned over to society. 

This process, however, does not work itself out 
without the aid of mankind. On the contrary, man- 
kind play a most active and determining role in 
this process of transformation. Simultaneously 
with the appearance of capitalism this process man- 
ifests itself, on the one hand, in the expropriation 
of the farmers of his land and of the artisan of his 
tools; and, on the other hand, in the introduction 
of socialized labor and processes of production and 
distribution. Manufacture, division of labor, ma- 
chinery, the factory system, conglomeration of in- 
dustries, the trusts, and the rise of the world-market 
— these steps follow one another as manifestations 
of this great process of transformation. With the 
socialization and the consolidation of the produc- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 249 

tive and distributive activities of the human race 
also grows the mass of the working class and the 
solidarity among them. This manifests itself in 
the rise of labor parties, trades unions, and the 
class-consciousness of the workers. The producers 
become ever more identified with one another and 
become ever more welded into a social body. They 
begin to exercise an ever-increasing influence over 
the life of the human race. Their increasing growth 
in solidarity and power manifests itself in an ever- 
increasing pro-sociality in the productive, intellec- 
tual, moral and social activities of the race. Social 
institutions come into existence, the municipalities 
extend their scope and function, and enter into the 
productive and distributive functions of life and, 
on an ever-increasing scale and degree, serve the 
needs and the comforts of society. 

As capitalism develops, the municipalities be- 
come ever more active in their service of mankind, 
and the material conditions of existence for the 
workers become ever more improved. The work- 
ing people become ever more enlightened, ever 
more enlightened, ever more independent in spirit, 
and ever more competent to understand the condi- 
tions of existence and the best way to serve their 



250 THE raiLOSOPHY OF MARX 

interests. And, though the material conditions be- 
come ever more improved, the working men be- 
come ever more dissatisfied and feel themselves 
ever more fettered and crippled by the capitalistic 
order. Their dissatisfaction and their feeling of 
constraint grow, not because their material condi- 
tions of existence become ever worse, but rather in 
spite of and because of their improvement. The 
working men grow mentally and morally. This 
growth of theirs manifests itself in an increase of 
capacity to enjoy and a desire for ever more en- 
joyment. The workingmen become ever more pain- 
fully conscious of the incompatibility of capitalism 
with their own well-being. Ever more keenly do 
they realize that their life does not improve pro- 
portionately to the rapid and wonderful progress 
mankind makes in the arts, the sciences and the 
industries. They perceive that, not only are all 
advantages of progress and civilization monopo- 
lized by the idlers, parasites and swindlers, but 
also that these gentry, like swine, destroy and be- 
foul everything which they themselves cannot use, 
or which they cannot dispose of at a profit, thus 
depriving the workingmen of the benefits of the 
increase in the productiveness of labor. Though 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 251 

the conditions of existence for the workingmen im- 
prove, yet that improvement, relatively to the real 
progress of mankind, is absolutely insignificant; 
so insignificant, indeed, that the conditions of the 
working class fall ever more and more behind the 
progress of the race. The chasm between them the 
capitalist class becomes ever deeper and wider, 
producing in the workers the deepest despair with 
the capitalist system. This Marx expressed, by 
saying: 

"A house may be large or small; as long as the 
neighboring houses are likewise small, it satisfies 
all social requirements for a residence. But let 
there arise next to the little house a palace, and the 
little house shrinks into a hut. The little house 
now makes it clear that its inmate has no social 
position at all to maintain, or but a very insig- 
nificant one; and however high it may shoot up in 
the course of civilization, if the neighboring palace 
rise in equal or even in greater measure, the occu- 
pant of the relatively little house will always find 
himself more uncomfortable, more dissatisfied, 
more cramped within his four walls. 

"An appreciable rise in wages presupposes a 
rapid growth of productive capital. Rapid growth 



252 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

of productive capital calls forth just as rapid a 
growth of wealth, of luxury, of social needs and 
social pleasures. Therefore, though the pleasures 
of the laborer have increased, the social gratifica- 
tion which they afford has fallen in comparison 
with the increased pleasures of the capitalist, which 
are inaccessible to the worker, in comparison with 
the stage of development of society in general. Our 
wants and pleasures have their origin in society; we 
therefore measure them in relation to society we do 
not measure them in relation to the objects which 
serve for their gratification. Since they are of a 
social nature, they are of a relative nature." 

Because the improvement in the life of the work- 
ing people does not keep pace with the progress of 
mankind, the workers become ever more thoroughly 
dissatisfied with their lot and ever more painfully 
conscious of the ever-widening and ever-deepening 
chasm between themselves and the capitalists. Their 
discontent causes them to concern themselves ever 
more seriously about the capitalist order and grad- 
ually to discover the secret of their miseries, and 
they begin seriously to think of abolishing the 
capitalist order. They extend their political and 
industrial organizations over an ever- widening area, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 253 

comprehending ever greater portions of the work- 
ing class. Their daily struggles with the ruling 
class arouse them, bring out their latent powers and 
yield them a rich harvest of knowledge and experi- 
ence. Their growing strength and increasing self- 
confidence inspire them to ever greater tasks. They 
begin to make greater demands upon the body 
politic and to force their influence over increasing 
areas of human affairs. And so, in the words of 
Marx> from day to day they become ever more 
disciplined, united, organized, by the very mechan- 
ism of the process of capitalist production itself, 
and daily become ever more prepared for their 
great historic [task — the complete overthrow of 
capitalism and the full inauguration of socialism. 
And, while capitalism is losing ground, socialism 
is gaining ground; while capitalism is receding, 
socialism is advancing; and, while the capitalists 
lose power, the workers gain power. The time is 
near at hand when rising socialism will challenge 
declining capitalism to mortal combat. In that 
great struggle, the proletariat, trained, disciplined 
and organized, will accomplish its great historic 
task, will emerge victorious, and, by means of the 
power won in that struggle, the proletariat will 



254 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

then proceed to inaugurate the state of socialism. 
The final struggle may be a struggle for years, but, 
once begun, the proletariate will not let up until 
it will come out universally victorious. 

This view of the great historic process that is 
now consummating itself is the view of Marx. It 
is a view perfectly in harmony with the facts of 
life, consistent in itself, and thoroughly realizable. 
It now remains to show how Marx understood this 
view. Marx bequeathed to the proletariat many 
very valuable legacies but few of the legacies can 
compare in their grandeur and sublimity with the 
wonderful truths and sublime prophecy embodied 
in the 32nd chapter of the first volume of "Capital. 
Nothing known in human literature can compare 
with this. It is the most marvellous achievement of 
the human mind. This places Marx far above all 
prophets and seers of all times. We shall therefore 
proceed to read and interpret this chapter. 

Marx tells us that private property, as the anti- 
thesis to social, collective property, exists only 
where the means of labor and the external condi- 
tions of labor belong to private individuals. But, 
according as these private individuals are laborers 
or not laborers, private property has a different 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 255 

character. The numberless shades that it at first 
sight presents correspond to the intermediate stages 
lying between these two extremes. The private 
property of the laborer in his means of production 
is the foundation of petty industry, whether agri- 
cultural, manufacturing, or both. Petty industry, 
again, is an essential condition for the develop- 
ment of social production and of the free individ- 
uality of the laborer himself. This mode of pro- 
duction pre-supposes parcelling of the soil and 
scattering of the other means of production. As 
it excludes the concentration of these means of pro- 
duction, so also it excludes cooperation, division 
of labor within each separate process of production, 
the control over and the productive application of 
the forces of nature by society, and the free devel- 
opment of the social productive powers. It is com- 
patible only with a system of production and a 
society, moving within narrow and more or less 
.primitive bounds. At a certain stage of develop- 
ment it brings forth the material agencies for its 
own dissolution. From that moment new forces 
and new passions spring up in the bosom of society; 
but the old social organization fetters them and 
keeps them down. It must be annihilated; it is 



256 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

annihilated. Its annihilation, the transformation 
of the individualized and scattered means of pro- 
duction into socially concentrated ones, of the 
pigmy properties of the many into the huge prop- 
erty of the few; the expropriation of the great mass 
of the people from the soil, from the means of sub- 
sistence and from the means of labor; this fearful 
and painful expropriation of the mass of the people 
forms the prelude to the history of capital. 

As soon as this process of transformation has 
sufficiently decomposed the old society from top 
to bottom; as soon as the laborers are turned into 
proletarians, their means of labor into capital; as 
soon as the capitalist mode of production stands on 
its own feet; then the further socialization of labor 
and the further transformation of the land and 
other means of production into socially exploited 
and, therefore, common means of production, as 
well as the further expropriation of private propri- 
etors, take a new form. That which is now to be 
expropriated is no longer the laborer working for 
himself, but the capitalist exploiting many labor- 
ers. This expropriation is accomplished by the 
immanent laws of capitalist production itself, by 
the centralization of capital; that is, not by the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 257 

concentration of capital into the hands of capital- 
ists, but by the centralization, organization and 
cooperation of capital. The capitalists whose capi- 
tals have been consolidated and centralized kill 
out the capitalists whose capitals have not yet been 
consolidated and centralized. Hand in hand with 
this centralization or this expropriation of many 
capitalists by few develop, on an ever-extending 
scale, the cooperative form of the labor process, 
the conscious technical application of science, the 
methodical cultivation of the soil, the transforma- 
tion of the instruments of labor into instruments 
of labor only usable in common, the economizing 
of all means of production by their use as the 
means of production of combined, socialized labor, 
the entanglement of all peoples in the net of the 
world-market, and with this the international char- 
acter of the capitalistic regime. And though 
older modes of production continue to linger here 
and there, the capitalist mode of production be- 
comes the prevailing, the dominant and the de- 
cisively controlling mode of production. This 
dominance of the capitalist mode of production 
gives to those nations that have adopted it a pre- 
eminence and power of control and determination 



258 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

over the nations still clinging to the older modes of 
production. The advanced capitalist nations be- 
come the leading nations of the world. 

Along with the constantly diminishing number of 
magnates of capital, that is, with the diminishing, 
not of the number of capitalists or of property 
owners, but with the diminishing of the number of 
capitalists that rule and control the capitalist world, 
and who, by virtue of their supreme power, are 
able to usurp and monopolize all advantages of 
this process of transformation, that is, the process 
that transforms property from the individuals to 
society, grows the mass of misery, oppression, slav- 
ery, degradation and exploitation, not only of the 
actual producers of all wealth, but also of all 
expropriated, all proletarians, whether laborers, 
small business men, or professionals. For, in con- 
trast with the enormous wealth and power possessed 
by the magnates of capital, and the great advan- 
tages thus placed in the hands of these usurpers, 
the luxury, the pleasure and the security enjoyed 
by them, the expropriated shrink ever more into 
insignificance and are reduced to mere pariahs, 
slaves, miserable and degraded, that are to live 
and work only for the enrichment of the magnates 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 259 

of capital. But, while the great mass of expro- 
priated may remain inactive, the producing pro- 
letarians are thereby aroused into great activity. 
The working class — the class that always increases 
in numbers, disciplined, united and organized by 
this very mechanism of the process of capitalist 
production itself, now comes to the fore, monopo- 
lizes the entire political arena, ready for the final 
conflict. 

In the meantime the monopoly of capital be- 
comes a fetter upon the mode of production, which 
has sprung up and flourished along with and under 
it. Centralization, and not merely concentration, 
of the means of production and the socialization of 
labor at last reach a point where they become in- 
compatible with their capitalist integument. This 
integument must burst asunder, and it does burst 
asunder. The knell of capitalist private property 
sounds. The expropriators are at last expropriated 
themselves. 

The capitalist mode of appropriation, the result 
of the capitalist mode of production, produces cap- 
italist private property. This is the first negation 
of individual property, as founded on the labor of 
the proprietor. But capitalist production begets, 



260 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

with the inexorability of a law of Nature, its own 
negation. It is the negation of negation. This does 
not re-establish private property for the producer, 
but gives him individual property b^sed on the 
acquisitions of the capitalist era, i.e., on coopera- 
tion and the possession in common of the means of 
production. The capitalist mode of production 
prepares society, at first, for the socialization of 
the processes of production and the cooperation of 
labor, and, afterwards, for the collective use and 
enjoyment of the products of this social mode of 
production. 

The transformation of scattered private prop- 
erty, arising from individual labor, into capitalist 
private property, is, naturally, a process incompar- 
ably more protracted, violent and difficult than the 
transformation of capitalistic private property al- 
ready practically resting on socialized production, 
into socialized property. In the former case we 
had the expropriation of the mass of the people by 
a few usurpers; in the latter we have the expro- 
priation of a few usurpers by the mass of people. 

The Rhythm of Motion, spoken of by Spencer, is 
well exemplified by the evolution of property. At 
first, property was owned by mankind in common. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 261 

Communism was the prevailing property-owner- 
ship. In course of time this form of property- 
ownership became incompatible with the further 
growth and development of the human race. It 
had to be dissolved, and it was dissolved, making 
room for privately owned property. This con- 
tinued until, in turn, it became incompatible with 
the further growth and development of the human 
race. Capitalism was inaugurated, the sole func- 
tion of which was to dissolve private property and 
reintroduce socialized property: property owned 
and used by all members of society in common. At 
first, capitalism expropriates the producers, and, 
when this is accomplished, it expropriates the ex- 
propriators. Capitalism recedes, socialism ad- 
vances, and in time socialism becomes fully estab- 
lished. 

This is the great truth which Marx perceived, 
and in most wonderful and convincing manner he 
presented to us this truth in his monumental work. 
Since the time that Marx wrote "Capital," all events 
that have transpired but confirmed this great truth. 
The present great war was but the inevitable mani- 
festation of the inherent contradictions of the cap- 
italist system and it brought out the great revolu- 



262 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

tions. Even if capitalism should succeed in main- 
taining itself for another short term, it will soon 
be driven by its inherent contradictions to a final 
struggle of a nature that will surpass in extent 
and intensity the present great war. Out of that 
final struggle, socialism over the whole earth will 
emerge triumphant. 

Enricco Ferri, in his work, "Socialism and Modern 
Science/ 9 tells us: "The law of apparent retrogres- 
sion proves that the reversion of social institutions 
to primitive forms is a fact of constant recurrence. 
The example of this reversion to primitive forms 
are only too obvious and too numerous, even in 
the category of social institutions. This same phe- 
nomenon may be traced in the organization of prop- 
erty. Spencer himself was forced to recognize that 
there has been an inexorable tendency to a rever- 
sion to primitive collectivism, since ownership in 
land, at first a family attribute, then individual, has 
reached its culminating point, so that in some coun- 
tries land has become a sort of personal property, 
transferrable as readily as a share in a stock- 
company. 

"Moreover, this process of socialization of prop- 
erty, though a partial and subordinate process, is 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 263 

nevertheless so evident and continuous that to deny 
its existence would be to maintain that the economic 
and consequently the juridical tendency of the 
organization of property is not in the direction of a 
greater and greater magnification of the interests 
and the rights of the collectivity over those of the 
individual. This, which is only a preponderance 
today, will become by an inevitable evolution a 
complete substitution as regards property in land 
and the means of production. 

"The fundamental thesis of socialism is then in 
perfect harmony with the sociological law of ap- 
parent retrogression, the natural reason for which 
has been so admirably analyzed by Mr. Loria 
thus: the thought and the life of primitive man- 
kind are moulded and directed by the natural en- 
vironment along the simplest and most fundamen- 
tal lines; then the progress of intelligence and the 
complexity of life increasing by a law of evolution 
give us an analytical development of the principal 
element contained in the first genus of each insti- 
tution; this analytical development is often, when 
finished, detrimental to each one of its elements; 
humanity itself, arrived at a certain stage of evolu- 
tion, reconstructs and combines in a final synthesis 



264 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

these different elements, and thus returns to its 
primitive starting point. 

"The reversion to primitive forms is not, how- 
ever, a pure and simple repitition. Therefore it is 
called the law of apparent retrogression, and this 
removes all force from the objection that socialism 
would be a return to primitive barbarism. It is 
not a pure and simple repetition, but it is the con- 
cluding phase of a cycle, of a grand rhythm, which 
infallibly and inevitably preserves in their integ- 
rity the achievements and conquests of the long 
preceding evolution, in so far as they are vital and 
fruitful; and the final outcome is far superior, 
objectively and subjectively, to the primitive social 
embryo. 

"The track of the social evolution is not repre- 
sented by a closed circle, which, like the serpent in 
the old symbol, cuts off all hope of a better future; 
but, to use the figure of Goethe, it is represented by 
a spiral, which seems to return upon itself, but 
which always advances and ascends." 

When we consider but a small arc of the great 
cycle of the economic evolution in the life of the 
human race, the tendency of capitalism seems to be 
towards a concentration of all social wealth in the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 265 

hands of a few capitalists and to leave that wealth 
in their hands. But, when we contemplate that 
economic evolution in its comprehensive totality, 
we perceive that the tendency of capitalism is to 
complete the cycle of economic evolution, by abol- 
ishing private property and establishing collective 
or communistic property in its stead. And now we 
shall appreciate the following statement of Marx, 
given at the outset: 

"In broad outlines we can designate the Asiatic, 
the ancient, the feudal, and the modern bourgeois 
methods of production as so many epochs in the 
progress of the economical formation of society. 
The bourgeois relations of production are the last 
antagonistic form of the social process of produc- 
tion — antagonistic, not in the sense of individual 
antagonism, but of one arising from conditions 
surrounding the life of individuals in society; at 
the same time the productive forces developing in 
the womb of bourgeois society create the material 
conditions for the solution of that antagonism. This 
social formation constitutes, therefore, the closing 
chapter af the prehistoric stage of human society." 

The great cycle of social evolution, which had 
its beginning in the prehistoric stage of society, is 



266 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

now reaching completion, bringing mankind to a 
higher and more satisfactory plane of existence. 
As Spinoza states, the order and connection of ideas 
are the same as the order and connection of things. 
The socialist philosophy is but the intellectual re- 
flex of the material evolution of life. The ideals 
and the dreams of mankind are but the adumbra- 
tions, the harbingers, of the coming reality. The 
ripening of the material conditions of existence for 
a state of communism manifests itself in the mind 
of the pioneers of thought in the form of a socialist 
philosophy. Once they perceive the coming reality 
and begin to desire it, they exert themselves to at- 
tain that desirable reality. This, again, manifests 
itself in a socialist movement, which is but the con- 
scious and organized effort of the most enlightened 
members of society to attain in the speediest and 
most direct manner that desirable state. The road 
to socialism, therefore, does not pass through dark- 
ness of night, the marshes of ignorance and deg- 
radation, and the despair of the slough of despond. 
On the contrary, that road passes through educa- 
tion, organization, preparation and discipline of 
the proletariat. 

The socialists, therefore, must direct all their 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 267 

efforts to help the proletariat to rise ever higher 
and higher, mentally and morally, so that it may 
come nearer and ever nearer to the apex of the 
pyramid of creation, partake ever more of the 
natura naturans, and make ever more consciously 
and effectively their own history. "Nevertheless 
I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see the Son of 
Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming 
in the clouds of Heaven." The Son of Man, the 
proletariat, who, unlike the foxes that have holes 
and the birds that have nests, has nowhere to lay 
his head, will, spite of all opposition and difficulty, 
Attain to the right hand of power and will rise to 
the clouds of heaven and enjoy economic security 
and supreme happiness. 

The future belongs to the proletariat. And who- 
ever wants to earn for himself eternal life, to iden- 
tify himself with the future, must sever all relation- 
ship with the past and the present, cast his lot with 
the proletariat, live with it, suffer with it, struggle 
with it, hope with it and with it attain to the glory 
that awaits the proletariat. Let the Russian Revolu- 
tion be a confirmation and an inspiration to every 
noble soul. It is the duty of every one that can fur- 
ther this great cause to help bring light and knowl- 



268 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX 

edge to the proletariat. And, when the proletariat 
shall realize fully that it is in its own hands to attain 
to an infinite world with infinite possibilities, that it 
it can convert this vale of tears into a world of 
joy, then it will cast off all fetters, remove all hind- 
rances, come into its own and then in fact and in 
truth, become the lord and master of creation. 
The emancipation and the salvation of the pro- 
letariat lie in its own hands. And happy is he, 
who, having seen the light, at once casts his lot with 
the proletariat; for only by identifying one-self 
with the proletariat can one save himself in this 
^world of sin, corruption and destruction. 



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